Recent Books I've Found Helpful on Org Culture

Here are a few books I’ve read recently that were insightful on organizational culture.

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Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr

The authors of this book are former executives at Amazon, and they share the inner workings of how the company grew so successfully. A big piece of their success came from codifying leadership principles early on. Here is how they did that:

“In 2004, human resources head Mike George and his colleague Robin Andrulevich made an observation: the company had grown like a weed, adding many leaders who were inexperienced and in need of some formal management and leadership training. So Mike asked Robin to create a leadership-training program. Robin asserted that doing so would first require clearly and succinctly codifying what leadership meant at Amazon. Such an exercise would certainly delay the rollout of the program, but, after much discussion, everyone agreed it would be a worthy undertaking. In the 2015 shareholder letter, Jeff wrote, “You can write down your corporate culture, but when you do so, you’re discovering it, uncovering it—not creating it.” This was the assumption on which Robin had been operating when she set about to codify the Leadership Principles. She interviewed people throughout Amazon who were effective leaders and who embodied the essence of this burgeoning company. What she thought would be a two-month project took nine months to complete. But by the time she was finished, her effort had gone a long way toward identifying many of the elements that would make the company what it is today. This initial set of Leadership Principles was basically an articulation and synthesis of the ethos of the people Robin interviewed.”

I believe that the best principles and values are extremely specific for each organization. Having “trust” as a principle or value is not helpful because it is so vague. Amazon’s leadership principles are specific, and therefore, help people make day-to-day decisions based on them.

“Thanks to Robin, who did a superb job collecting these powerful principles, they were expressed in an actionable and distinctly Amazonian way. For example, the Insist on the Highest Standards leadership principle is described like this: “Leaders have relentlessly high standards—many people may think these standards are unreasonably high.” The words “relentlessly” and “unreasonably high” are distinctly Jeff-ian and therefore Amazonian ways of thinking and speaking. Another important Amazonian phrase often appears alongside the Amazon Leadership Principles and key tenets: “Unless you know better ones.” This reminds people to always seek to improve the status quo.”

The author's argue that the best way to write leadership principles is to do it internally as a company, rather than outsourcing it.

“Define a set of leadership principles. These must be developed with participation from many contributors. Don’t assign the task to a single group or outsource it to a consultant or service provider. Do it yourselves. Hash out the details. Revisit the principles from time to time and revise if and as necessary. Then, as with the aspects of the culture, bring the principles into every process, from hiring to product development. Depict your flywheel. What are the drivers of growth for your company?”

Another great nugget from the book shares how important mechanisms are: “Good intentions don’t work. Mechanisms do.”

“There’s a saying often heard at Amazon: “Good intentions don’t work. Mechanisms do.” No company can rely on good intentions like “We must try harder!” or “Next time remember to…” to improve a process, solve a problem, or fix a mistake. That’s because people already had good intentions when the problems cropped up in the first place. Amazon realized early on that if you don’t change the underlying condition that created a problem, you should expect the problem to recur. Over the course of many years, Amazon has put in place mechanisms to ensure that the Leadership Principles translate into action. Three foundational mechanisms are: the annual planning process; the S-Team goals process (the S-Team consists of the senior vice presidents and direct reports to Jeff Bezos); and Amazon’s compensation plan, which aligns incentives with what’s best for customers and the company over the long term.”

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Remote Work Revolution by Tsedal Neeley

Tsedal Neeley is a professor at Harvard Business School who has been studying remote and global work. Her new book about remote work couldn’t be more timely. One practice she recommends all remote and hybrid organizations do is called a team launch.

“Team launches (and periodic relaunch sessions) drive performance throughout the team’s journey. Relaunches are critical to keep remote teams cohesive, but even more so when teams transition to remote work, and especially by necessity as with COVID-19. Leaders need to be proactive about more, not less, periodic relaunches. The typical length for a launch is an hour or an hour and a half, and that time can be spread across two sessions. Every member needs to be present for an open discussion to share opinions and contribute perspectives on the best ways to work together as a team. When working remotely, launches should be video meetings where people can be as connected as digital technology allows.

[Here are] the four essential elements of teamwork that each member must agree on:

Shared goals that make plain and clear the aims that the team is pursuing.

Shared understanding about each member’s roles, functions, and constraints.

Shared understanding of available resources ranging from budgets to information.

Shared norms that map out how teammates will collaborate effectively.

Notice that each of these four domains begins with the same word: shared. That’s because the fundamental goal of a launch session is alignment.

Relaunches are periodic appraisals of how the group is faring with the four key areas. I often joke that a relaunch is like a couple’s date night because in both instances you revisit what’s important and may check in on the present, past, and future to figure out what’s working and what might need adjustments. As a general rule, teams should revisit their standing via a relaunch at least once per quarter. When people work remotely, I have found that relaunching every six to eight weeks to orient or reorient based on evolving dynamics is more important. During these occasions, virtual working groups and leaders acknowledge how each member is doing, figure out how to address concerns, and ultimately get everyone on the same track to achieve team goals. In other words, relaunches are never a one-and-done event. Because work conditions are often dynamic, hitting the reset button once won’t be enough.”

Neeley also shares a framework for how to think about different types of trust and what is needed for remote teams.

Two basic terms that help us think about how to choose from the nuanced palette of trust available when working together are cognitive trust and emotional trust.

Cognitive trust is grounded in the belief that your coworkers are reliable and dependable. Teams motivated by cognitive-based trust use their heads to consider their colleagues’ qualification to do the task at hand; trust is usually formed over time, and confirmed (or disproven) over numerous experiences and interactions. For example, when you learn that a colleague has gained significant experience from a previous job or has graduated from an institution you respect, you begin to form cognitive trust. As you work on a project together, your cognitive trust will rise or fall depending on how consistently your colleague has behaved to demonstrate reliability over time.

By comparison, emotional trust is grounded in coworkers’ care and concern for one another. Relationships built on emotional trust rely on positive feeling and emotional bonds, and they crop up most easily when team members share common values and mind-sets. If you consciously mentor a colleague or a group takes up a collection to give a coworker a gift, for example, that’s driven by emotional trust.

Relationships based on emotional trust are akin to friendships and involve the heart. They do not require more time to achieve, but they are more difficult to form among remote teams. Passable trust is more dependent on cognitive trust, whereas swift trust is more dependent on both emotional and cognitive trust.

Passable trust is necessary but not sufficient for most remote teams. It’s useful and frequently used for communicating outside of teams and across organizations—it’s the fuel that keeps organizations working—but because it doesn’t become more intense or involve emotion it’s not the special ingredient that makes a team, but especially a remote team, really gel.

Connect by David Bradford and Carole Robin

This book is written by the creators of the “Touchy-Feely” course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This is the most popular course, and alumni say it is a life changing experience. I couldn’t wait to read it, and found it helpful, although a big part of the experience is learning with a cohort of fellow students. Here are a few passages I highlighted:

“Exceptional relationships can be developed. They have six hallmarks:

You can be more fully yourself, and so can the other person.

Both of you are willing to be vulnerable.

You trust that self-disclosures will not be used against you.

You can be honest with each other.

You deal with conflict productively.

Both of you are committed to each other’s growth and development.

The last three hallmarks have to do with feedback and conflict. Challenging someone can actually be a powerful way of supporting them, and yet few people feel confident they can do it well. Someone with whom you have an exceptional relationship calls you on behaviors that really bother them, and when they do, you know it’s a chance for learning, not something against which you have to put up your guard. They know that in helping you understand the impact of your behavior, they are showing commitment to your relationship and helping you grow. Fights happen, even in the best of relationships (as you’ll see, the two of us are proof of that!). But a fear of conflict can lead you to bury irritants that, if raised and successfully dealt with, could actually deepen the relationship. Conflicts left unspoken can still cause harm. In an exceptional relationship, it’s easier to raise and resolve issues so that they don’t lurk and result in long-term damage. You see such challenges as opportunities to learn, which decreases the chance that these same difficulties will appear again.”

One of the most famous concepts that I had heard about before reading the book was “going over the net.” Here is the explanation:

“When someone else’s feedback is an attribution of your inner reality, it’s tough not to feel defensive. The first reaction is to rebut: “No, I’m not.” A second tendency is to counterattack: “The reason that I do that is because you do X.” This is a normal response when we feel attacked, misunderstood, or placed in a one-down position. But defensiveness can lead to escalation and prevent both parties from learning. Accept you are feeling defensive, but don’t act on it. Instead, use the feedback model to push the other person back to their side of the court.

Although conceptually simple, it’s not always easy to do. One of the most interesting and remarkable things that happens at the Stanford business school is the way in which the model of the net becomes more and more commonplace in everyday conversations as more of the students take Interpersonal Dynamics. We are also heartened about the extent to which it stays with alums for decades. “Over the net” has become a culturally defining term.

A great example of the utility of these concepts involved a young woman we knew who had learned about the net model from an older friend. Her high school tennis coach was very irritated with her and said, “Your problem is you’re not committed.” She calmly responded to him, “Can you tell me more about what you mean? I’ve never missed a practice or a game, and I happily play anywhere in the lineup you place me. That’s what commitment means to me. But obviously I’m doing something that makes you think I’m not committed. What is it?”

The coach then raised his voice slightly and said, “You show up to practice without your uniform!” To which she responded, “Oh….Okay, I’m glad I asked! I would have never known that was how you defined commitment. If you’d told me I was disorganized and forgetful, I’d have been the first person to agree. I get it now. I’ll be back tomorrow for practice…with my uniform.” Their relationship changed significantly once she learned the source of his irritation and was able to respond to it.

Remember, sometimes feedback comes in very ugly wrapping—but that doesn’t mean there’s not a gift inside. Since by yourself you can only know two of the three realities, receiving feedback is essential to being more effective. You need to know the third—the impact of your behavior. As we often say, “It takes two to know one.”

The authors discuss how often a barrier to speaking up is the fear of someone above you not wanting to hear what you have to say. However, that is often not the case.

“In spite of organizational constraints, our experience is that most managers and employees want more open and direct conversations than they often have.

In the programs we conduct for executives, we have found it fascinating that when we ask, “How open can you be with your boss?” the responses are most often, “Oh, I have to be very careful,” “I need to watch my words if I disagree,” and “It’s best to make bosses think the new ideas are theirs.” These answers are irrespective of the participants’ level of management.

Then we ask a follow-up question: “If your direct reports disagree with one of your ideas, what do you want them to do?” The responses are again similar across all levels of management. Except this time the answer is, “I want them to be direct, to lay it out, not to beat around the bush. I want to know the truth.” We then observe, “Isn’t that interesting? All the people in this program are secure and centered, but all have bosses who are fragile and insecure. Clearly, we need to get your managers, not you, to these programs!”

As we noted above… you can be direct and straightforward. You can help your boss see that you are on their side and your intent is to be their ally. You are likely not only to gain more respect but also to end up with stronger and more functional relationships. With that as a basis, it is possible that many work relationships can grow to be exceptional.”

Quarterly Culture Inspiration: December 2020

Every quarter, I share helpful summaries and excerpts of the best books, podcasts, and articles I’ve read about organizational culture.

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Book: No Rules Rules: Netflix and The Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Reed Hastings is the co-founder and CEO of Netflix, and Erin Meyer is a professor at INSEAD business school, and together they have written an excellent book that functions as an anthropological study of Netflix’s culture. This is a book I recommend buying for your reference shelf as it is so full of real-life examples, rather than just theories or frameworks. The book is structured around ten key tenets that are the foundation for Netflix’s success. Hastings is honest, introspective, and vulnerable about how hard it is to run a company, and Meyer brings her great ability to synthesize patters into frameworks (her first book, The Culture Map, is also worth reading, and I wrote about it here). Here are a few excerpts I highlighted.

On how Reed Hastings models asking for feedback:

“Reed… receives more negative feedback than any other leader in the company. The proof is his 360-degree written assessment, which is open for everyone to contribute to, and where he consistently gets more feedback than any other employee does. Reed solicits feedback continually and religiously responds with belonging cues, sometimes even speaking publicly about how pleased he’s been to receive a piece of criticism. Here is a paragraph from a memo he shared with all Netflix employees in spring 2019: 360 is always a very stimulating time of year. I find the best comments for my growth are unfortunately the most painful. So, in the spirit of 360, thank you for bravely and honestly pointing out to me: “In meetings you can skip over topics or rush through them when you feel impatient or determine a particular topic on the agenda is no longer worth the time... On a similar note, watch out for letting your point-of-view overwhelm. You can short-change the debate by signaling alignment when it doesn’t exist.” So true, so sad, and so frustrating that I still do this. I will keep working on it. Hopefully, all of you got and gave very direct constructive feedback as well.”

On “The Keeper Test”:

From Reed: “Our mantra is that employees don’t need the boss’s approval to move forward (but they should let the boss know what’s going on). If Sheila comes to you with a proposal you think is going to fail, you need to remind yourself why Sheila is working for you and why you paid top of the market to get her. Ask yourself these four questions: Is Sheila a stunning employee? Do you believe she has good judgment? Do you think she has the ability to make a positive impact? Is she good enough to be on your team? If you answer NO to any of these questions, you should get rid of her (see the next chapter where we’ll learn that “adequate performance gets a generous severance”).

We also encourage all managers to consider each of their employees regularly and make sure they’ve got the best person in every spot. To help managers on the judgment calls, we talk about the Keeper Test: IF A PERSON ON YOUR TEAM WERE TO QUIT TOMORROW, WOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE THEIR MIND? OR WOULD YOU ACCEPT THEIR RESIGNATION, PERHAPS WITH A LITTLE RELIEF? IF THE LATTER, YOU SHOULD GIVE THEM A SEVERANCE PACKAGE NOW, AND LOOK FOR A STAR, SOMEONE YOU WOULD FIGHT TO KEEP. We try to apply the Keeper Test to everyone, including ourselves. Would the company be better off with someone else in my role? The goal is to remove any shame for anyone let go from Netflix.”

On Feedback:

From Reed: “We now do the 360 written feedback every year, asking each person to sign their comments. We no longer have employees rate each other on a scale of 1 to 5, since we don’t link the process to raises, promotions, or firings. The goal is to help everyone get better, not to categorize them into boxes. The other big improvement is that each person can now give feedback to as many colleagues as they choose at any level in the organization—not just direct reports, line managers, or a few teammates who have invited input. Most people at Netflix provide feedback for at least ten colleagues, but thirty or forty is common. I received comments from seventy-one people on my 2018 report. Most important, the open 360 feedback instigates valuable discussion. I systematically share the comments I receive with my direct reports, and my reports share their feedback with their teams, all the way down the line. This not only strengthens the sense of transparency but also creates “reverse accountability” whereby the team feels encouraged to call the boss out for recurrent bad behavior. Ted Sarandos likes to tell this story about bungee jumping to demonstrate the value: Back in 1997, when I worked in Phoenix before Netflix, I went to a work event, the kind where you have some meetings but there are also activities encouraging the group to bond and have fun. Behind the restaurant in the parking lot, there was a bungee jumping station. For fifteen bucks you could jump off of a crane in full sight of everyone. No one was doing it, but I decided to try. Afterward the guy running the station said to me, “Why not go again? I’ll give you a second jump for free?” That made me curious. “Why would you do that?” I asked. He responded, “Because I want all your colleagues gawking at you from the restaurant to see that you’re happy to do it again. If they see it’s not so scary, they’ll be ready to try it also.” That’s exactly why you as the leader need to share your 360 evaluations with your teams, especially the really candid stuff about all the things you do poorly. It shows everyone that giving and receiving clear, actionable feedback isn’t so scary.”

Article: What Makes A Team Effective?

I highly recommend subscribing to Itamar Goldminz’s blog (former head of people at AltSchool and Grammerly). This post is a nice analysis of what makes a team effective. He compares several different frameworks and ultimately recommends a framework from an unknown origin. He makes a good argument that the buckets of governance, impact, and interaction cover team effectiveness well.

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Guide: Informal Communication in an all-remote environment

Gitlab was already working as an all remote organization before COVID, so the company has figured out some of the tricks to making remote work work. Gitlab published a helpful guide for others to read about how they are intentional about informal communication. They recommend creating ways for people to have chance interactions, like you would in an office hallway, and designing moments for frequent feedback, such as retrospectives. Here’s an image of them having fun with hats and backgrounds:

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