We often hear about how great companies have great cultures. Places like Google and Zappos are renowned not only for being incredibly profitable, but also for being great places to work. That’s led many to believe that building a strong culture is a essential for building a strong business.
But a culture can also hold you back. Blockbuster and Kodak both had strong corporate cultures and in both cases, ingrained attitudes contributed to their demise. Excessive reverence of culture makes it difficult to adapt to new realities and therein lies the dilemma.
A corporate culture, properly understood, is how an enterprise values its mission and has little to do with specific strategies and practices (like retail stores or photographic film), nor does it depend on perks like ping pong tables, relaxed dress codes or pet friendly policies. A strong culture is based on values.
Values, unlike perks, cost something. They determine what you will and will not do. When people at Google commit to not being “evil,” that constrains them and requires commitment. That’s how you build a strong culture.
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