awesome culture

Building an Awesome Culture

Dave Kashen
Blog: www.awesomeculture.com
Email: dave@awesomeculture.com
awesome culture

Overview
My Story

Why I Focus On Culture

Why You Should Focus On Culture

How To Build An Awesome Culture

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My Story
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3 Questions That Changed My Life

1. Whats been driving you?

2. What would you do if you knew

you couldnt fail?

3. What problem is worthy of your

life?
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The Problem Worthy Of My Life

Source: World Database of Happiness and Penn World Tables.

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Im Not Alone
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How Of Happiness

Source: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

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Strong Culture -> Success

12
Indexed Growth, 1926

10

4
- 1994

0
General Stock Market Built to Last Companies

Source: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.

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Lets Start Asking Better Questions

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We Are All Human

The most neglected fact in

business is that we are all
human.
- Chip Conley, CEO of Joie De Vivre Hospitality
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How Humans Really Work

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The Values-Driven Organization

operates according to a set

of clearly-defined values,
aligned with an inspiring
vision, that drive peoples
behaviors and decisions
everyday.
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The Culture Trap

So many times, it
happens too fast
You trade your
passion for glory
- Survivor (Eye of the Tiger)
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How To Build A Values-Driven Org

static
Inspiring Why
Core Values
Strategic Priorities
Observable Behaviors
Organizational Practices
Key Metrics
dynamic
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Inspiring Why
Why are we REALLY
doing this?

What experience do
we want to create for
whom?

How will we know

when weve won?
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Inspiring Whys
Nourishing peoples lives, everywhere, every day.

To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world* (* if you have a body, you are an
athlete)

awesome culture
To inspire & support every leader to build an organization that brings out the best in its people* (* if
you have influence, you are a leader)
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Core Values

What values allow us to thrive as

a team?

What values enable us to win in

our market?
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Team-focused values
What are the qualities of the best
co-workers weve ever worked
with?

What are the qualities of the

people we fired (or should have)?

What values were honored during

our peak moments as a team?
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Market-focused values

What values will enable us to win in

our market?

What are the values that have made

us successful so far?

What do we want to be known for?

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Defining Company Values

Founders Personal Values

Team Happiness Market Leadership

3. Create Fun and 2. Embrace and 1. Deliver WOW

A Little Weirdness Drive Change Through Service
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Observable Behaviors

What behaviors best

embody these values at
our company?

How will we know when

were honoring our values?
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Observable Behaviors
Honesty
You are known for candor and directness

You are non-political when you disagree with

others

You only say things about fellow employees

you will say to their face
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Observable Behaviors
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Observable Behaviors
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Organizational Practices

What structure, processes,

& rituals best align with and
reinforce our values?

How will we hold ourselves

accountable to our values?
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Key Organizational Practices

1. Hiring
2. Onboarding
3. Reviews
4. Compensation
5. Firing
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Recruiting Process
Value Interview Question

Give us an example of a time when you built something different

Doer, Try New Things than what was already there just because you were trying to make it
better?

Create Fun and a Little On a scale of 1 10, how weird are you?
Weirdness

Tell me about a time you recognized a problem/area to improve that

Build a Positive Team and Family was outside of your job duties and solved it without being asked to.
Spirit What was it? How did you do it?
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Recruiting Process

The Automattic Creed:

I will never stop learning. I wont just work on things that are assigned to me. I know theres no such thing
as a status quo. I will build our business sustainably through passionate and loyal customers. I will never
pass up an opportunity to help out a colleague, and Ill remember the days before I knew everything. I am
more motivated by impact than money, and I know that Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of
our generation. I will communicate as much as possible, because its the oxygen of a distributed company.
I am in a marathon, not a sprint, and no matter how far away the goal is, the only way to get there is by
putting one foot in front of another every day. Given time, there is no problem thats insurmountable.
_________________ ___________
Signature Date
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Performance Reviews
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Organizational Rituals
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Monthly Culture Alignment

1. Keep

2. Start

3. Stop
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Key Metrics

Value Key Metric

Delight users NPS, customer feedback
Speed Length of product cycles
Efficiency Productivity of meetings
Balance Avg. weekly hours, vacation days
used
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How To Build A Values-Driven Org

static
Inspiring Why
Core Values
Strategic Priorities
Observable Behaviors
Organizational Practices
Key Metrics
dynamic
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Build companies that

not only make you rich,
but also enrich
peoples lives.
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Questions? Slides? Need help?

Please email me:

dave@awesomeculture.com
awesome culture

Building an Awesome Culture

Dave Kashen
Blog: www.awesomeculture.com
Email: dave@awesomeculture.com