10 years ago, I began building a better culture in my company.
But I started at the wrong end. 🙈
And I see many founders and leaders make the same mistake.
Let’s make sure that you don’t make it, too!
But first, we need to start with a tiny bit of context.
We had scheduled two days with the whole team. In a nice conference room, with a lot of coffee. We were ready to start the workshop. Our goal? To define our “company values.”
We brainstormed, had great discussions, and carefully listened to each other. We came up with lots of ideas. And most of them really made a lot of sense! So we wrote those things down, in our intranet where we could all see them and be reminded of them.
But over the next few months, not much changed. Even though the “values” we had defined made a lot of sense! What was going on?
We had started at the highest possible level (values / vision / mission), but had ignored two problems:
What we should have done instead — and what we indeed set out to do some years later - was to work on the foundational skills and topics:
These things — in contrast to lofty “values” — are very tangible. Very actionable. With a clear path forward, clear results, clear benefits. Over time, we established concrete habits, designed concrete processes, and tried concrete practices.
After some time — and a lot of work in these areas — I took another look at the values we had defined. NOW they were actually alive in our team. Although we hadn’t worked on them directly.
Work on the basics: on better communication, building stronger relationships, establishing healthy habits…
And the rest will take care of itself.
