Xord — Creating Value Through Culture
In Good to Great, Jim Collins says that companies should be able to identify what should be preserved for life and what should be changed. One has to be conscious enough to identify the right thing to be preserved at the right time.
Being in the blockchain industry that is moving with lightning-fast speed, it has always been a requirement to stay ahead. Since the beginning, Xord has quickly adapted to new changes to remain at the forefront. However, in its early years, we also realized what we need to preserve while stimulating our progress. While very few companies deem it important, culture has always been a source of retaining the right people on our bus.
When you start your journey, you have a defined goal with all the possible routes leading towards it. However, getting the right people in your team is more important than setting objectives. Once you have the right people, you know that it will be a success wherever you go. But what gets you the right people? Or more importantly, what helps you keep the right people? The culture you cultivate, consciously or unconsciously.
“Culture is real. You may not have planned it. You may not like it. Or maybe you love it. But it’s there. It’s real.” — Zappos
Culture - As We Define It
The vision, mission, compensation, perks and benefits, and brand are what make a person wake up in the morning and go to work. While the environment you develop, which is rather abstract, is what makes one want to wake up in the morning and go to work. The culture is directly linked with the growth of people. Growth ensures happiness. A culture that nurtures people, helps them develop skills, and lets them experiment with what they have learned is a clear indicator of constant growth. Companies grow when their people grow.
“All companies have culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of discipline.” — Jim Collins
This kind of culture supports people who are self-disciplined. In other words, only the people who enjoy freedom (experiment with their skills) while being accountable (responsible for the consequences) thrive in this environment. When people do not have a hierarchy that grants approval over the smallest of decisions people make, they feel liberated and responsible at the same time. This creates a sense of setting targets and achieving them all on their own. The excitement of it all is what people experience here daily.
Culture Is Not What You Think It Is
It is also important to understand the difference between facilities and culture. An environment that lets people resonate together as a single body whether they are a part of a leadership team or a team member, is culture. While leisure activities and fun is cherry on top. Once you become a part of it, you would sense the culture and see its results in a short time. Similarly, the people whose values do not align with the company’s culture, find themselves unfit without anyone telling them. Just like the immune system removes the foreign bodies, culture filters out the wrong people.
Once you have the culture-fit people, you know they are here to stay. By culture-fit we mean, people who have values that align with ours, people whose work ethics let them enjoy it, and people who feel energized when exposed to such an environment.
Culture Creates Value
Xord believes in creating value. By defining a vision and making efforts to achieve it we try to create a difference in the world. However, by cultivating a culture where the right people thrive, we try to create value for our people. The people who feel that they belong to something larger than themselves, and contribute to it through their skills have a sense of fulfillment and meaningfulness.
When you start working for something that is beyond just making money, you rise higher and shine brighter.
“In a truly great company, profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: they are absolutely essential for life but they are not the very point of life.” — Jim Collins
