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  • Who’s in Charge of Your Company Culture?

    Posted on March 16th, 2009 by Spike and currently 4 commenting.

    There’s a lot of attention surrounding company cultures these days and how important it is in creating a thriving, successful business. You can see it in the Zappos and Patagoinas of the world. It’s those tight-knit communities that are almost cult-like. It’s also one the keys to creating a sustainable word of mouth movement.

    Some companies are considering creating a position to be in “charge” of the company culture. And I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. From someone who belongs to a company that has a very strong culture and been fortunate enough to be a part of a team that has planted the seeds that have grown into strong cultures, here’s what I think:

    No one should be in charge of your company culture.

    If you put someone in charge of it, then company culture becomes institutionalized. It becomes a requirement. A check on the ol’ job list. Forced, even. And if it’s forced, then you’re creating a culture alright: A culture of people dreading your “culture.”

    The most powerful cultures are ones with shared ownership. Sometimes it comes from the top. Sometimes from the bottom. And sometimes from the middle. But it all starts with a powerful identity. A company giving in to the idea that everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And creating a type of open, adoptable identity. A “me” identity. Then the shared ownership starts to happen. People begin to organize around ideas and a sense of watching out for one another. Bonds are formed. Pride spreads.

    We’ve seen it. For causes, companies and even around products. Cultures are powerful – but only when they’re not dictated or required. They are organic. And for very structured companies, sometimes that’s hard to accept (and, of course, there are exceptions to the rule). But if you’re truly going to let something company-changing happen, it’s going to have to come from that shared-culture. Not from a memo or mandate.

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  • http://www.cloudbrain.com Kelly M

    Good advice, when things develop organically they always have more meaning. I think it’s helpful when Cloudbrain comes out with a new product to have all our employees(all 5 of us) describe in a sentence or two how to use the product…THEN come together as a group and see who said it best. Putting one person in charge of describing one of our services is never as powerful as brainstorming alone without a dictated, structured way of looking at the concept. Everyone sees different uses for products or uses products differently so it is helpful to get the dynamic feedback. I also feel like our products always get better the more people use them and give feedback.

  • http://thefastgrowthblog.com Doug Davidoff

    Great points, though I’d slightly alter one of them. If you put someone “in charge” you make your culture institutional. Albeit a very slight difference, but all cultures are institutionalized. The mere idea of “putting someone in charge of company culture” reminds me of Siegfried Reud in Get Smart who said, “Ve vill be happy or ve vill shoot you.” Culture is, and the more one tries to control it the less empowering it is.

  • http://www.SkipWeisman.com Skip Weisman

    or as the hat I bought on vacation last summer says,
    “The beatings will continue until morale improves!”

    There may not be any one “in charge” of the culture, but the leadership certainly sets the tone and can squash a positive, inclusive, organic culture in a heartbeat if they’re not careful!

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