💩 Are company values BS?
Hello! Adam Thornhill here. ‘The Podcast Guy’ saving you 10 hours a week.
Enjoy the 114th Podup, with special thanks to ChatGPT Consulting.
Today, we’ll dive into the best insights and ideas from The Rework Podcast.
Company culture is touted as the backbone of any successful organization. But what is it? And how do you change it? Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson offer a candid look into what makes or breaks your culture, and if company values help or hinder your business.
What is company culture?
Culture is the average behavior inside a company over the last 50 days. It represents how things are right now. It can change pretty rapidly, which is good and bad. It’s bad because it can get worse quickly, but it’s good because it can get better quickly. If you want to improve your culture, you can only do so by acting in a different way. It’s not by writing down better rules or having a new meeting about it.
Jason Fried
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Actions speak louder than words
If you’re writing down a bullshit description of a culture that doesn’t actually exist, you’ve set yourself up to be a liar. There’s nothing worse than having employees come into a company, read your values, and then see that’s not reality. It breeds such a level of distrust right off the bat.
Jason and I have been reluctant to write about our culture to new employees. We’ve tried to distill it down to 5 values before, but we realized it has to spread by osmosis through the actions we take. It’s easy to rewrite a paragraph to sound all inviting and inclusive. It’s harder to adopt that behavior.
David Heinemeier HanssonÂ
Why it matters
A toxic culture spawns from recent negative behaviors, such as gossip, disrespect, poor communication, a lack of psychological safety, and a lack of accountability. It leads to higher employee turnover, lower morale, and ultimately, a decline in productivity.
To address this, many executives spend more time codifying their values than actually embodying them. Company values have their place, especially in larger organizations where alignment is challenging, but the best use of a leader’s time is to serve as a role model for others.Â
This is particularly true for startups, where the focus should be more on doing than on documenting. In smaller, agile environments, the behaviors of leaders are reflected by the rest of their team. By showing not telling, you can build your ideal company culture.
Next steps
Audit your actions. Take a close look at the behavior exhibited in your company. Is it in line with the culture you aspire to have?
Have open conversations. Create a safe space for employees to speak openly about the culture. Their insights can be invaluable.
Lead by example. As a leader, your actions set the tone for the entire organization. Make sure they align with the culture you want to establish.
Avoid lip service. If your written culture statements don’t match the reality, it’s time for a rewrite—or better yet, a behavioral change.
Start small. If you’re not in a position of power but want to improve your culture, create a micro culture within your team. Start new rituals, demonstrate the impact of your behaviour, then roll this out to other teams.
Your thoughts?
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Quotes were pulled at different points of the episode. Sentences were left out to make the narrative more concise. Podup is not associated or affiliated with any podcast.