Creating an organizational culture code

Culture code – organizational guidelines

Company value statements typically have a tendency to be a bit vague and lacking instructions that tell employees what the most important guidelines are for the company.

There seems to be an tendency that more and more companies are “adding” culture codes to their value statements. The most prominent example is probably Netflix outlining  the organizations guidelines on 124 slides!

But it don’t have to be 126 slides – below the culture code (Leveregler) for a larger Danish company:

#1 – DARE TO MAKE MISTAKES AND ADMIT TO FAILURES

• We appreciate the willingness to take risks in order to continually improve our performance
• We always expect an honest status and provide constructive suggestions

#2 – KNOW OUR BUSINESS – ALSO IN THE “ENGINE ROOM”

• We understand the reasons for deviations – and have a plan to get on track
• We are able to execute every day in search of growth and value creation

#3 – TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ENTIRE BUSINESS

• We are ready to sacrifice our personal goals for the group
• We take responsibility – even outside our own area of responsibility

#4 – COMMUNICATE OUR MIND

• We communicate without concealing the actual nature or impact
• We would rather deal with conflicts than suppress frustrations
• We are never taking discussions to a personal level

#5 – ALWAYS SETTING THE STRONGEST TEAM – AND HAVE AN EYE FOR TALENT

• We recognize good performance and take the consequences of persistent non-performance
• We create opportunity for the individual to develop his or her potential and we create career paths for the talented
• We believe in diversity as a mean to create even better results

#6 – COMMON SENSE ALWAYS PREVAILS

• We make things simple, to provide maximum value for customers, employees and partners
• We give everyone the ability to act upon common sense when interacting with customers
• We fight internal policy and complexity – it kills the motivation and great customer experiences

#7 – MUST BE FUN TO PARTICIPATE

• We have an informal atmosphere with a straightforward tone and room for a good laugh
• We send each other home with more energy than we turned up with
• We believe that enthusiasm creates motivation and performance

Hubspot organizational culture code

Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot co-founder, wrote about the HubSpot Culture Code in his blog.

1. Culture is to recruiting as product is to marketing.
2. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to have a culture. Why not make it one you love?
3. Solve For The Customer — not just their happiness, but also their success.
4. Power is now gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it.
5. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
6. You shouldn’t penalize the many for the mistakes of the few.
7. Results should matter more than when or where they are produced.
8. Influence should be independent of hierarchy.
9. Great people want direction on where they’re going — not directions on how to get there.
10. “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
11. We’d rather be failing frequently than never trying.

The operating system

Maybe culture code is best described as “the operating system that powers the organization”.

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Creating an organizational culture code — https://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/rkx
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