

You can't hide from yourself - kenny_r
http://danieltenner.com/2014/07/31/you-cant-hide-from-yourself/

======
hkmurakami
I've always believed (and witnessed) that a company's culture mirrors the
character of the founders. If you want to shape your company culture, you
yourself must change to reflect it.

Never thought of it in terms of "personal growth" so far, so this was an
interesting take

------
ehurrell
I think it's obvious that a startup's culture is heavily influenced by its
founders, I think the more subtle point is that a culture is more affected by
the things they do than the things they say, though if they say one thing and
do another that clash can sadly cause huge amounts of damage. Being coherent,
cohesive and clear are absolutely key to not messing people about at the early
stages I think.

------
koliber
At the company I am presently working at, we have recognized that good culture
is paramount to accomplishing great things. It makes everyone work on the same
wavelength and leads to constructive collaboration, as opposed to politiking
and defensive behavior. It is working really well for us.

Culture is not about hiring similar people. We have a fairly even breakdown of
men and women and have people from various backgrounds and in different stages
of their life. Yet all people mirror and identify with our core values. I want
to share them with you because I, like the rest of our team, are really proud
of them:

[http://www.15five.com/philosophy.html](http://www.15five.com/philosophy.html)

The last, and probably most important thing, is that none of this does not
make sense until you know why you are doing what you are doing. We call this
our WHY. It took time to define it, and we continue to refine it. It is our
central tenet which keeps us aligned and motivated, and everything else in one
way or another stems from it.

~~~
frownie
Oh please...

Now let me show you the real why, values, etc.

We, as a company, have no fucking core values. At the beginning there were a
few smart ass, business savy dudes with an idea they thought interesting to
make.

So they started our company. They needed some additional forces to achieve
their goal so we hired you !

Now, we have a mutual need for stability : we want to keep your talent inside,
and you most probably want stability for your job (since you're just a non-
entrepreneur guy)

To satisfy that need, the company looks closely at how to make you happy. So
the company creates a few illusions :

\- illusions of scarcity of money (we could pay you more but well, your market
value blablabla)

\- illusions of culture (whao, we work together 'cos we thing alike ! except
well, no, we look for maximizing profit, you look at saving your salary)

\- illusions of evolution (you will grow with us, except that well, all the
benefits will be for the top mangement :-), unless you becom one of the
founder, which implies taking a huge financial risk (rememeber ? you're an
employee, so you won't make enough money to join the company's capital :-))

However, given the fact that things have worked this way for centuries, we
both acknowledge the situation and think both of us will find a pocket of
happiness in it.

So let met tell you once more : We, as a company, have f*cking values, pal,
that's just an illusion we create because without that you'd thing that we're
just a normal company (and our little ego doesn't want that :))

~~~
koliber
I agree that very often, the situation is as you have described, frownie. I
have had my share of jobs and some were better and some worse. However, here
at 15Five, and at one other job, I honestly felt like the company truly cared
for its employees.

Of course the company must make money, and of course it must hire people and
pay them a salary in order to get that done. You would have to be
disillusioned to think that just because a company has values and a culture it
will ignore all else. But there can be more than than that to it, and in this
case, there is. Taking good care of employees and treating them right while
providing a comfortable environment DOES pay dividends to the company. I
cannot imagine a better win-win.

Many people are probably disillusioned because they have been burned in the
past. They no longer believe in values, culture, and WHY. I cannot blame them.
Fool me once, they say, right? However, I want to throw this out there and say
that there are still places where employees are treated like people, like the
work they do, are satisfied and fairly rewarded. Calling that an illusion is
not fair just because you have not had a chance to experience that.

------
nqureshi
Great post & it's totally true that company culture mirrors that of founders.
I think this works through 3 mechanisms:

(1) Employees tend to ape founders, so whatever founders care about & value
(in their actions) tends to filter down.

(2) Getting aspects of culture to stick (e.g. transparency) is hard, and
requires real commitment from founders. So whatever sticks will tend to be
whatever founders care enough to really push through.

(3) Founders tend to hire people who are 'like them', so a critical mass of
employees end up being very similar to the founders.

------
kalmanolah
It makes sense that a company's culture would be greatly influenced by the
founders - the ones who shape said company. I've always believed this to be a
one-way thing however: company culture will reflect the personalities of its
founders, and that's it. Seeking to change yourself in order to build a better
culture by proxy is certainly an idea with merit.

------
SergeyDruid
Another great post by Daniel T., somehow i missed it. thank you!

