A Tale of Two Cultures
I’d like to introduce you to my two pals, Company A and Company B.
Company A, a franchise fast food company, prided itself on being a well-oiled machine. They enjoyed predictability, and knew their customers did too. They put immense value on reliability, predictability, and rigor. They built People operations on a straightforward organizational design that outlined clear expectations for success, and rewarded steadily positive business outcomes. They attracted and retained employees who relied on structure to do their best work, who valued the predictability of steady learning and growth.
Company B, a large tech and product company, prided itself on refuting the well-oiled machine. They broke old ways of thinking, moved fast, and put immense value on innovation - and their customers craved the same. They built a People operation that elevated disruptive ideas, one designed to adapt to progressive ways of working. They attracted and retained employees who did their best work in an in-flux environment - individuals who thrived on the velocity, and embraced the changes as opportunities to learn and grow.
Both became household names, achieving immense market success while becoming something of a Culture Idol for the specific ways they each built and nurtured their team operation. Two wildly different companies, two wildly different markets, two wildly different cultures - each one a massive business success run by engaged, high-performing teams.
What do you suspect would happen if Company A, who thrived on the reliability, stability, and organization of a fast food franchise, suddenly changed its People Experience to match that of Company B, a high-innovation, intentionally disruptive tech company?
We needn’t look too far to find high-profile examples of what can go wrong when a company tries to crowbar the wrong culture: Apple in the 90s, Uber mid-2010s, Twitter now, the list goes on.
There are so many ways to get company culture wrong, that I think we forget sometimes that there are just as many ways to get it right.
I get it: it’s tempting to look at enviable company cultures, study what they got right, and attempt to replicate the experience. But your company’s culture doesn’t just need to be great, it needs to be great for your company. That company whose culture you admire isn’t great because it works for everyone, it’s great because it works for that company.
“Great, Jill,” you think. “So you’re telling me I have to reinvent the cultural wheel just to get the perfect custom-fit culture for my company?” I know, it can seem daunting, but I have good news: your team and their values already hold the key to designing and nurturing the right culture to support their success. And I’m going to give you the first step you need to take to access it.
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