This Makes Company Culture Great

It’s not the ping pong table.

It’s not the free beers on Friday.

It’s not the supposed “flat hierarchy”.

It is, in fact, nothing tangible. Nothing that could ever be included on a job description. Nothing that can be read.

It must be experienced to understand that it exists. Because company culture is a composite of various, tiny, deliberate — as well as unconscious — actions that, as a whole, constitute a sense of ‘greatness’ or not.

Great company culture is something that can be superficially created.

It cannot be imposed by some consultant or left to develop organically.

It must be something that the entire team live & breathe.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” — Mahatma Ghandi

Achieving Greatness

What makes company culture great is when words are preceded by action. And very few past the test, lacking the substance to back up their claims of “flat hierarchy” & “clear career progression”.

Because everyone can say “hey, look how great our culture us because of x, y, z”, but very few actually believe it.

And if you lack belief, then you lack the motivation to actually enact & maintain great company culture. Because it’s hard, because there’s no clear, tangible reward, because you won’t prioritise it.

“Intention precedes action”

So, what makes company culture great?

The simple act of belief.

A belief in wanting to constantly improve the lives of your employees. Of the humans you spend most of your day with. Because that belief is the driving force that leads you to act & push for great culture, when everyone around you just pays lip service to it.

Not the ping pong table. Not the words on some job description online. But an almost tangible belief, exuding from every member of your team, that we all want to improve each other’s lives.