Posts tagged corporate values

a company of adventurers

Oct 10th

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

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Leadership is a tricky thing.

It is walking a fine line of truth (grounded in what is real as well as ‘not lying’) and aspirational (giving people a glimpse of what they can be).

And, as with anything, this is about some functional practical things and emotional soul searching things.

Oh.  And connecting them.  It is the connection aspect that great leaders do well.

But, ultimately, those leaders who figure it out end up leading high energy, high performance organizations.

And I tend to believe when you see an organization that ‘thinks small’ (or acts small) it is because their leaders do.

Regardless.

Just as I wrote recently about the fact we are in the ‘selling hope’ business I tend to believe great organizational cultures are also grounded on hope. Hope for being better.  Being a better person.  Being better at what you may do daily (even the smallest task). Being part of something that betters the world.

Great organizations, at their core, feed their people’s hope.

And great leaders figure out a way of showing them that hope.

In practical terms and aspirational terms.

All that said that leads to me to some words that made me think about this.

Sam Meek. Sam was the CEO of of the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson in the 50’s/60’s. And the words below were delivered in a 1965 speech.

Within the following words there are little scraps of hope littered throughout for people to pick and choose from. Scraps of the practical. Scraps of aspirational. Scraps of lessons that can be implemented daily in actions. All littered on a ground of a solid attitude focused on the horizon.

These are words that make you feel good about being part of the organization and yet words to challenge every one to be better and work harder (“we are a permanently dissatisfied company”).

I am not above stealing great words and reapplying them.  I use these words all the time and, frankly, I seek to work within organizations that like these words:

When I talk of this company, I am not thinking just of a legal or business entity. I am using the word in the older sense, as in a company of scholars, as a company of adventurers, or a company of voyagers. I think our companionship partakes of all these things.

There had to be something special about this enterprise to attract the talented and venturesome people who have come together to exercise their considerable talents and to derive from it the things that make for full and satisfying life.

Our relationships are subtle and highly sensitive relationships ….

Our job must be to share authority without losing it …

The whole staff must have a proprietary feeling about the company’s work.

We are a permanently dissatisfied company and so far as I can see, we shall not run out of things to be dissatisfied about. I think our work, in most instances, is the best of its kind in the world – and yet not good enough. Not as good as it is going to be. There has not been and there should never be a year when it is not better than the year before.

Our audience is getting more demanding all the time – it is not a question of talking down to them. The problem, the opportunity, is to talk far enough up to them.

Lastly.

I use the quote below all the time.

I am not sure I have ever seen nor heard words from a leader that captured the essence of both functional practical and aspirational better than these.

“We must be dynamic for purposes bigger than ourselves.“

I admit.

I do hate when an organization “thinks small.” That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t think practical but they should think about impact.  What kind of impact, or imprint, do they truly want to make.  And I don’t necessarily mean making people’s lives better.  I mean ‘doing good or great shit.’ Making an impact through what they do and who they are as an organization.  Impacting whatever world they affect. It doesn’t have to be global (like a JWT) but it can be local or even within their own circle of friends & business relationships.

Creating a great organization, a company of adventures, needs leaders who say, who mean, who live, these types of words.

And all words that are said within a truth that it isn’t rhetoric but rather it is the soul of the organization.

Be dynamic.

Whew.

That alone is a great thought.

So go be.

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expectations as an economy

May 17th

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

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This one is about those pesky demanding consumers. And their pesky attitudes & expectations.

Oh. Expectations. Expectations are truly tricky things. They elevate quickly (even moreso in the web-based transparency driven world) and they decrease grudgingly. Once a consumer has experienced a truly 100% perfect experience the bar has been set. And in today’s world? You (a consumer) doesn’t even have to personally experience it … you can simply virtually experience it … and your expectations have been reset.

Let’s face it.

In the past a company (or a brand) could get away with not performing at its peak.   Or maybe taking a day off performance wise.  All because consumers didn’t experience full transparency of the best, the cheapest, the first, the most original or the most relevant.

Well.

That’s all over.

And things are bound to get even more radical.

trendwatching calls this phenomena The Expectation Economy. And it is not just a generational thing.  While it is a given for the younger generations who are unburdened by an era of mass production, mass advertising and above all mass ignorance … older generations are quickly stepping into this world wondering what the hell all these youngsters know that they don’t.

Oh.  And every day the older generations are getting more online savvy (even if it is simply to make sure they aren’t getting screwed) and are creating the same expectations as the younger generations.

The Expectation Economy is a consumer trend chock full of experienced well informed consumers from the US to China who has a high list of expectations that they apply to each and every product or service or experience on offer.   Their expectations are based on years of self training in hyperconsumption and the flood of online information readily available.  All of which helps them track down and expect not just basics even for the basics (in other words … there is no such ting as “basic” any more).  Not just the lower level standard of quality but the “best of the best” for what they are willing to pay.

They have redefined quality.

Quality is now based on what they are willing to pay.

“Yes.  I have one dollar.   But now I know what to expect for one dollar.  Oh.  And it ain’t just one dollar worth of value.   Its something more because I know, even though it’s just one dollar, someone out there is willing to give me more than one dollar of value because they want my one dollar.”

So.

What this really means is that in this expectation economy your product or service is no longer just judged against other products and services in your category but by experiences created by other products and services in other categories you cannot even imagine are your competition.  Ok. They aren’t your competition in a true definition of the word (it is not like they are stealing sales) . But.  They are stealing expectations. They are resetting the expectations in your category.

Geez.  How fair is that? You aren’t even competing against them.

Well.  In the new Expectation Economy face it.  You aren’t just competing against those you think you are competing against but also competing against expectations being set by other companies in other categories.

The biggest difference from five to ten years ago? Word of mouth now travels the world in a flash, making product launches instantly global, turning every new brand, big or small, into a potential ‘player’ in the marketplace. Small businesses and brands can become big businesses and big brand overnight.

Basically, this is the Creative Destruction theory (Schumpeter) gone ballistic. Remember. Creative Destruction is all about how the small constantly overwhelm the big to improve the overall marketplace.

And it is happening because never before has intelligence on the best, the cheapest, the first, the most original and the most relevant been so openly available to consumers. And never before have consumers enjoyed doing research and comparisons (lets call it ‘personal competitive analysis’) as much as they do now. In fact consumers are conducting the competitive analysis more diligently than most corporations do (including possibly the most anal comparative corporation of all time P&G).

Blame (or thank) sites, blogs and magazines such as:

This avalanche of consumer competitive intelligence has even spawned consumer information as a job – where consumers inform each other on the best of the best without feeling the need to actually purchase anything or even get paid for what they are doing.

What started with amateur “cottage industry” travel, chef & shopping experts is now applied to virtually every industry or any object that consumers’ desire. In fact consumers can now vicariously consume everything and anything through the eyes of curators/experts and other consumers, and the written/spoken/taped reports they freely share (note again … without getting paid to do any of this).

And all this sharing of knowledge leads to creating expectations.  Expectations with regard to everything. And that leads to …

Irritation and Indifference

Think about the consumer as someone with ongoing annoyance interspersed with occasional boredom and indifference.

Whew. Now that sounds tough for any marketer out there.

Why will consumers’ moods be like this?

Once high(er) expectations have been set, they are bound to go largely unmet, since the majority of brands still choose not to keep up with the best of the best (because that “isn’t our positioning or what we are about” or they simply just cannot match the best of the best).

Well informed consumers will thus find themselves in a perpetual state of indifference and/or irritation.

Indifference will hit those brands that consumers know are underperforming, and that they can avoid due to sufficient availability of the best of the best. If you’re working for one of those underperforming brands, the scary thing is not just selling less (or nothing). It’s that indifferent consumers will stop being forgiving, they will stop being cooperative and giving you feedback on how to be more like other, better performing competitors. They’ll just leave and never return, without telling you why.

Perpetual irritation is just as bad: this will occur when consumers are forced to buy from an underperforming brand, due to limited or no availability of what they already know is the best of the best.
In this light, pay special attention to fake loyalty and postponed purchases:

-          Fake loyalty: consumers will continue to purchase from underperforming brands if the ‘real thing’ isn’t available. To the underperforming brand, all may seem quiet on the western front, until the best of the best suddenly does become available. Good examples of fake loyalty can be found in the airline industry: millions of frequent flyers around the world know that Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and Emirates offer a superior experience, but since these airlines don’t fly on all routes, consumers have no choice but to fly with subpar airlines now or then, or all of the time. Count on them to vote with their wallets every time new routes are added by these ‘best of the best’ carriers, even if they’ve never flown with them before.

-          Postponing purchases: some ‘best of the best’ brands like Apple actually manage to indirectly convince consumers to postpone certain purchases. Many consumers would rather wait for the iPhone or MacBook Air to become available, than to buy a new phone or laptop. Again, due to the dissemination of information, even local product launches are instantly global. Digital services have already succumbed to phased distribution; the physical world is next.

The Next Generation

Let’s face it: in the past a brand could get away with not performing at its peak, since consumers didn’t enjoy full transparency of the best, the cheapest, the first, the most original, the most relevant. That’s really over. And things are bound to get even more radical: the EXPECTATION ECONOMY is a given for younger generations, who are unburdened by an era of mass production, mass advertising and above all, mass ignorance.

So: not knowing who’s doing exceptional things and setting your customers’ expectations is not an option. Which brings us to the following:

Looking cross-industry is Imperative

Sure, we know that what you really, really want is to look at which trends will dictate your industry. If you’re in automotive, you want to know about the future of transport; if you’re in food and beverage, you’re no doubt interested in everything healthy and green and organic. And of course you have a near-obsession with what your main competitors are up to. But in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY, business professionals should obsessively think and look cross-industry, as opposed to suffering from industry tunnel vision.

Here are three reasons why looking cross-industry isn’t just great for inspiration, but a prerequisite for understanding how to succeed in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY:

1. Your Competition could be Anyone

First of all, focusing solely on your own industry will obscure the fact that in economies of abundance, consumers are increasingly spending their ‘play money’ on goods and services that net them the experience, the indulgence, the excitement, the satisfaction they’re looking for at a specific moment. Which could be new sneakers (even though they already own five pairs), or a new cell phone (even though their current one is perfectly fine) or a long weekend away (even though, if they’re European, it’s probably their fourth getaway this year). So if you’re, let’s say, Nike, you’re definitely competing with Reebok and Adidas and Onitsuka Tiger once a consumer has made up his or her mind that it’s sneakers he or she desperately wants. But before minds are made up, when shopping for a certain kind of excitement, it may as well be Nokia or Starwood Hotels. Or Zara. Increasingly, you’ll be competing with anyone and everyone, which means you need to keep an eye on anyone and everyone.

2. Expectations are Often set Outside your Industry

Secondly, limiting yourself to your own industry will make you miss important changes in consumer expectations, and will thus put you at risk of disappointing or even annoying consumers. Every industry has its own ‘innovation competence’, and the innovations they’re bringing to market not only excite their own customers, they also shape their expectations for other industries. Whether it’s Singapore Airlines’ sense of status, Starbucks’ understanding of indulgence and rituals, H&M’s obsession with making up-to-the-minute fashion affordable, or Apple’s prowess in design and usability. And while flawless execution is never easy, the thinking and attitude behind it isn’t impossible to mirror. Consumers know this, too. Hence their aforementioned indifference and irritation when it comes to the non-H&Ms, the non-Singapore Airlines, the non-Apples.

3. Just copying Competitors is a Race to the Bottom

Last but not least, if you’re obsessed with what your direct competition is doing, you will always end up copying new concepts in your industry. Which means that, unless you’re comfortable with being a ‘smart follower’ and being really really good at it you won’t be successful.

Now, all of this is of course not to say that you shouldn’t actively track what’s happening in your own industry. But also constantly ask yourself: who are our other competitors? What experiences could our product or service be traded in for? And what can we learn from other industries setting consumer expectations across the board?

Oh.

Smart follower.

That’s management speak for waiting to see whether innovative initiatives by more creative and daring competitors are worth copying: if they are, you’re too late, and if they’re not, well, by then they’re probably working on something newer that does work.

Being a smart follower is not a science.  In reality it is all about mixing experience, intuition, and knowing your sources.

In my world i grab a notebook and camera and start taking notes and pictures roaming the streets.  And secondarily scanning the list of best of the best sites/publications. Note that I prioritize “the streets” first.

Always remember. “The streets howl with the truth.”

Find competitors and non-competitors, big and small, who are setting consumer expectations much higher than you’ve ever been able to (because whether you like it or not you are being compared to them).

Maybe they’re more fun.

They have better design. Their stuff tastes, looks, feels better. Their customer service actually responds to emails. They’re cheaper.

Then build what you think are the standards for which you will be measured against. Those are the expectations you need to manage whatever it is you do against. That is where you need to start thinking.  Maybe in developing new products or services or just experiences.

But in this new Expectation Economy you have to at minimum incorporate people’s expectations into what you are doing. And, of course, seek to outdo them somewhere.

Ah.  The Expectation Economy. It certainly isn’t dull.

source: thanks to trendwatching for contributing to this post.

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respect the burden

Sep 2nd

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

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“respect the burden” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Ah.

So, yes, I wrote this in combination with Nelson’s ‘don’t fear the event.’

Two charismatic leaders who didn’t fear the event and respected the burden that came along with being a leader (and managing the event to the extent they could).

Before I get to the ‘burden’ it is interesting to note both of these excellent leaders of men were excellent delegaters. Excellent delegaters.

Nelson? Huge advocate of independent command. He was always clear on his expectations (‘when in doubt put yourself as close to the enemy as possible’) but delegated responsibility to individual commanders on how to do so.

Napoleon? Huge advocate of independent command. He was a ‘reactor’ to the situation. Gave his general’s direction and independence to act depending on the situation (he just chose excellent commanders).

Regardless.

They respected the burden.

They understand the burden. And they understood the aspects of the burden.

Being a leader carries with it huge responsibility. Not only are you constantly under a microscope but while under the microscope you are carrying the burdens of leadership.

But I find it interesting that the great leaders rarely invest a lot of energy discussing ‘burden’ but rather responsibility to others.

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” Napoleon

Part of the burden is giving hope in the face of fear.

Encouraging action when there is a temptation to freeze.

Part of it is ‘showing the way’ or at least showing ‘what could be.’

And be believable.

And.

Part of the burden is decisions. Or ‘guiding independent actions.’

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”- Napoleon

There is a burden to make decisions … and to permit others to make decisions.

Part of the burden is understanding the importance of communication in leadership.

Included in that is the understanding of a responsibility for peoples actions even though you have delegated the actions.

“An order that can be misunderstood will be understood.” Napoleon.

Part of the burden is understanding the depth and breadth of the leadership responsibility. Understanding it does not rest solely in one decision or a great decision but rather the great and the many and the ongoing. It is a burden to be a leader because the weight remains regardless. Maybe the best example I have seen of this was on West Wing where the president character’s most common phrase spoken was “what’s next.”

Part of the burden is always knowing that what’s next is just as important as what just was.

Resting is rarely an option for leaders.

“Greatness be nothing unless it be lasting.” Napoleon

And lastly.

Part of the burden is understanding the role they play with some humility.

“A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.” – Napoleon

The heights of leadership is rare air coupled with a burden of many aspects.

The greatest accept the burden.

And even better?
They not only understand all aspects of the burden but accept the burdens with grace and character and intelligence and some characteristic of charisma.

So.

Don’t fear the event.

Respect the burden.

Great management lessons.

For life and business.

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elephants and leaders

Aug 31st

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

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“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, U.S. economist, “The Age of Uncertainty”

So.

I am not sure if this is becoming a characteristic of this generation of business leaders or I never noticed it in the last generation of business leaders. “This” is the inability to deal with the elephant in the room. Or even worse is the ignoring of the “herd of elephants” stalking through the organization.

Yes.

Being a leader of an organization (and size almost becomes irrelevant) is difficult and comes with challenges.

No.

Leaders shouldn’t ignore the elephant in the room or the herds of elephants wandering the hallways.

Elephants?

There are so many to choose from I couldn’t list them all. And no leader in their right mind will do an “employee survey” and expect to uncover the elephants that are seemingly walking invisibly through the hallways and offices of their company. No one trusts internal surveys any more.

Anyway.

Here are the ‘big 3’ elephants I see leaders kind of having their head up there ass on:

-          Senior manager flaws.

For some reason leaders are becoming blind to their semi-peer flaws. I don’t know if it’s the “kinder gentler” management of this generation or if they are just focused on what is being done well because it is one less thing to worry about. I don’t care what it is but it is elephant numero uno.

Here’s the deal. People have higher expectations the bigger the title. And they should. A bigger title means a higher standard to live/work by. A leader HAS to set his management team to a higher standard. They cannot be expected to play by the same rules as the rest of the organization. Oddly (having been in so many executive meetings I am surprised I haven’t had a natural lobotomy) leaders want to set up a standard of stricter rules for junior people and more flexible standards for senior.

It’s wacky. Senior people are supposed to be role models. The trickledown effect if you permit senior people with obvious ‘flaws’ is lack of respect, a belief that management is flawed, and a belief that anyone can be a senior manager (which isn’t true) and, well, confusion on how “they” (employees) can see something that should be obvious to a leader.

-          Making specialists generalists.

The way today’s business seems to work is no matter what your responsibility is in your ‘growth’ stages you get promoted (assuming you do well) and get rewarded with a generalist management role.

Look. I am not suggesting specialist cannot become generalist nor am I suggesting that a specialist cannot assume some responsibilities as executive leaders, but I do see organization leaders permitting the title/responsibility role reward based on merit not on ability to do the reward.

And the trickle down to those decisions (beyond the obvious that many just don’t deserve that role and mismanage) is that the organization staff see it and get confused (and join the herd of elephants wandering the hallways)

-          Inability to deal with younger employee dissatisfaction.

Whew. This one is a humdinger these days. This elephant isn’t even invisible and it gets ignored. In fact, many leaders just stare at the elephant and shake their head and go “oh well, there’s that damn elephant but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

It’s crazy. I have written about this before and, yes, I am going to generalize … but … this doesn’t have anything to do with “this generation’s work ethic” or “young kids just don’t have the same attitude as we did” (gosh, anyone reading that I would hope would feel old if they know they have said it themselves) … this is about leadership.

It’s not about being cool or wearing flip flops to work to show you ‘relate’ to the generation.

In fact, dear leader, they don’t want you to relate … they want you to lead.

A leader doesn’t have to be a ‘giant’ like I have written about before but they have to be a leader. Employees don’t have to like you (although it helps) they have to respect you. And that crosses any generation at any time with any age employee.  Being a leader (and however that particular leader utilizes leadership-like charisma) will overcome 90+% generational issues (flip flops in the office should take care of the rest).

Those are just three.

But I would imagine the point here is that I tend to see a diminishing ability in leadership to effectively deal with the elephants within their organizations. They are either oblivious, ignore them or accept them. Any of the three are unacceptable.

Ah. The biggest argument I get from senior people? I have other things more important at the moment, I am simply prioritizing.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ….

I have a tendency to want to point out that an elephant is … well … an elephant. And they are big.

Deal with it.

Anyway.

This is just a trend I seem to be seeing these days.

One last thought (because some of the elephants live outside the office building but come in attached to employees when they come to work every day):

Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994
“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends, and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

Nice way of looking at it if you ask me.

Okay. My advice to leaders? Go elephant hunting.

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architects of fate

Aug 19th

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

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I don’t really believe in fate. And it appears good ole HW Longfellow didn’t believe in it either.

He wrote a beautiful poem called The Builders (see below) suggesting that we, the people, are architects of fate.

In fact.

The beauty of what he writes (and this is a truly awesome thought) is that everyone does something, no matter how small or how large, that builds the structure of life.

That each and every one of plays some role. That is a really nice thought. And a nice reminder that no matter how inconsequential we may feel or the things we do …. We play a part in the tapestry of life.

Now.

I am a business guy.

And a business guy with a long history in the service side of the business world.

The side of the world that you often feel helpless and moving about at the whim of someone else and often not really doing anything important.

And I have used this poem several times with companies to remind us, employees, that our actions have consequences.

Even the smallest actions.

Each action contributes to the structure of who we are as a company and what we do.

It is a valuable thought in every organizational behavior or culture sense.

It is a valuable thought in encouraging each employee to understand that their actions contribute to the architecture of the fate of the organization (no matter how inconsequential they may actually feel buried down in the mailroom or the bottomless pit of account receivables department or the office manager ordering heavy stock paper for the copier because someone is bitching).

And (as my good friend Luke Sullivan points out in his book “hey whipple squeeze this”) this also pertains to output. Actual things we do for customers or actions we take in front of customers. Each action is a part of the overall tapestry of the architecture of the company. He also points out that each action often begets another action (in that once you have done something once it begins to feel more ‘okay’ to do it again … I would call that a slippery slope discussion).

Anyway.

As we hustle our way through each day trying to make sure we cross off everything on our to do lists and make our bosses happy and answer customer’s questions and requests it is nice to remind ourselves we are truly architects of fate.

Our company.

Personal life.

Life in general.

Go build.

The Builders

All are architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time;

Some with massive deeds and great,

Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;

Each thing in its place is best;

And what seems but idle show

Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise,

Time is with materials filled;

Our to-days and yesterdays

Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;

Leave no yawning gaps between;

Think not, because no man sees,

Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,

Builders wrought with greatest care

Each minute and unseen part;

For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do out work as well,

Both the unseen and the seen;

Make the house, where Gods may dwell,

Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,

Standing in these walls of Time,

Broken stairways, where the feet

Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure,

With a firm and ample base;

And ascending and secure

Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain

To those turrets, where the eye

Sees the world as one vast plain,

And one boundless reach of sky.

-          Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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charging to learn corporate culture

Jun 2nd

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

No comments

So. I just heard the craziest thing I have heard in awhile (it may not be true but it’s worth ranting about).

I heard Zappos is charging people to come in and do a 3 day seminar (visit, exploration, whatever) on their culture and building a culture.

Okay.

What’s up with that?

Seriously.

Who would pay to do that?

Maybe more importantly … why would you pay to do that?

Ok. Look. I get the fact that it’s different world today when trying to make your company (or products or services) into a “brand.” With internet connecting everyone with every minute tidbit of information companies have to become a little more transparent whether they like it or not. An unhappy customer or a disgruntled employee can spread a bad experience faster than ever before.

I guess the good news is that the reverse is true as well. A great experience with a company can be read by millions of people almost instantaneously as well.

But, c’mon, the fundamentals are exactly the same as in the past. The best brand names were always the ones who emanated from the internal culture of the company. And by “best” I mean the ones that have lasted and passed the tests of time. Everyone knows that. Heck. Everyone knew that.

I don’t care if there are a zillion touchpoints today versus something less than a zillion before. The fundamental issue was always the same. You should attempt to make each touchpoint be positive. And each touchpoint should be a reflection of your character (or company culture).  Because then (which makes it sound as if it was sometime prehistoric) you couldn’t anticipate problems just as you cannot today. Truly the only thing you could, and can, control is who you are and what you are selling (or offering).
In addition. We have always known the power of the employees in the marketplace (managing perceptions or ‘brand’ if you want to use that word). I know for a fact even in my ancient past in my first job it was important that even when I wasn’t “on the clock” I was always “on the clock” with regard to the company I worked for. Sure. I may have bitched some but in every instance I knew I represented the company in some form or fashion.

Would that stop me from getting shitfaced and dancing on a bar? Nope.

Would it stop me from denigrating the company, our clients, their products and what we (I) did for a living? Yup.

We didn’t need handbooks to talk about culture in those days.

We understood it.

We knew every employee had the ability to create a positive or negative impression.
We also knew that culture wasn’t just about whatever it was we were selling. It was an attitude. It was a character. We weren’t cloned but it was certainly a culture. And, sure, there were aspects of our culture that bled into “customer service” or “customer experience” but they were simply aspects of an overall culture.

Okay. Getting to the point of this post.
So. If you think going someplace to see someone else’s corporate culture and copying it (or copying how it is implemented) is going to work, well, get another job.

  1. You cannot copy someone’s culture. Period. That’s like saying you want to be someone other than who you are. Your company is made up of your people. Unless you can hire away their people and their management (and management possibly being the most important) you ain’t never gonna be them.  So why would I pay to see their culture?
  2. If you cannot copy their culture you cannot copy how they implement (or the stuff they do to cultivate their culture) the stuff they do within their culture. No can do. Why? Because your culture begets the stuff you do to cultivate it. So if I took all the whiz bang Zappo’s internal things and applied it to my own personality/character/culture … well … some may not come naturally. Because it’s someone else. All that internal culture stuff bubbles out of who you are. Unless you want to try and clone forget it.
    some culture chart i wanted to include because i have no clue what is says but its about corporate culture

    some culture chart i wanted to include because i have no clue what is says but its about corporate culture

So. In their words … “At Zappos, our belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff — like great customer service, or building a great long-term brand, or passionate employees and customers — will happen naturally on its own.”

Do I disagree with them? Shit no.

Do I believe it I some epiphany? Shit no.

Sure. Some companies “lose their way” on his issue (heck. I worked at one of the world’s greatest agencies who had the culture mojo and lost their way by losing sight of its importance). But. I cannot imagine one viable well run company’s leader (or group of leaders) who doesn’t know this and does it in their own way. Every one of us who has ever held a C level position knows that your “brand” is, and should be, simply an extension of your culture (because if it’s not you are screwed if not in the short term definitely in the long term).

Zappos certainly is an excellent example of “how to do it the right way” tactically (I don’t debate that):

-          Hiring with an eye on culture first

-          Training aspects on what is important to culture (historical knowledge and functional aspects)

-          Employee empowerment tactics

-          A willingness to hire & fire based on cultural fit (this is actually a biggie)

They are clear in stating their values (although I am not a big fan of the “10 core value list”) and it helps them, within their character, to put a stake in the ground organizationally to measure everyone and provide a north star for actions and decisions and commitment to ‘something’ organizationally:

1) Deliver WOW Through Service
2) Embrace and Drive Change
3) Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4) Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5) Pursue Growth and Learning
6) Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7) Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8) Do More With Less
9) Be Passionate and Determined
10) Be Humble

By the way, before all this ‘brand ambassador” and “corporate brand” stuff we used to call it the “DNA of the company”. Just connecting with the company “DNA” which was its’ roots, management/leadership style and personality traits.

Oh. But that was probably developed in the 40’s or 50’s so that was no good.

Anyway.

Visiting some company and paying to learn their culture and how they implement it just seems wacky to me (and an odd way to spend money).

I don’t think you can “learn to build a culture” from someone else. As a leader you build a culture. Your own. Or you are becoming a leader of a company that already has a culture and you are fostering an existing culture. And you do it throughout your organization in all actions big and small. That’s it. No book needed. No class. And certainly no money spent visiting someone whose culture you can’t copy anyway.

Spend the money and buy their shoes. They will like you better anyway.

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