Crushing Corporate Culture: Lessons from Five Companies Who Do it Right
Imagine opening your company email app to find the subject line “Team Bonding - MANDATORY.” Nothing says “we have a great culture” like forcing employees to fraternize with their co-workers - presumably after spending all day with said co-workers.
After nearly eight years in corporate America, I have too many examples of bad culture to count.
I remember one particularly painful lecture from a manager about working weekends.
“We do this to advance our careers and provide for our families,” he droned on, doing his best to make me feel guilty.
Of course, when I showed up on Saturday, he was nowhere to be found.
As I reflected on my experiences with poor work culture, my mind carried me like a magic carpet to a job application from years past. It was a chief of staff position at Scribe Media, and part of the hiring process was reading their “Culture Bible.”
Coming from an environment where the culture was staler than a box of old cheerios, this document sounded insufferable. But as I poured over the pages, I felt like I had plucked one of my favorite books from the shelf. It didn’t read like a stuffy corporate document.
It had anecdotes.
It had examples.
It had personality.
This! This is what I’d been looking for! Scribe had a workplace culture that aligned with my values. Scribe believed employee development and personal development were the same thing.
I didn’t get the job. But the experience opened my eyes to new possibilities - possibilities beyond the world of acronym clad values and cover your ass style policies.
Over the following years, I consumed countless company culture documents. Then I compiled the best ones below. They’re great resources for a founder designing a culture from scratch. They work well for a middle manager creating a positive environment for his team. They can even serve as personal operating manuals to improve the way you run your life.
Basecamp on Values and Communication
Values
My favorite thing about Basecamp’s values is that they don’t make an acronym; they make sense.
Be straightforward. This means speaking plainly and clearly, in as few words as possible. If you need to use buzzwords to make yourself sound smart, you’re compensating for incompetence.
Be fair and do the right thing. This is flirting with the big corporate line on “having integrity.” The difference is how Basecamp defines it. Basecamp asks their employees to consider the following question when facing a difficult situation: “What would you do for a friend or neighbor if they asked for help?” Sure, there’s still room for interpretation, but it beats the hell out of “we act with integrity.”
Level-headedness. Being reasonable is a rarity in corporate America. I once had a boss scream at me in a room full of co-workers because I made a mistake. Sure, I was wrong, but her reaction was the opposite of level-headedness.
Basecamp defines level-headedness as follows: “We don’t act out of spite, we don’t rush to judgment, we don’t jump to conclusions. If someone disagrees with us or attacks us we listen, we think, and we respond calmly and clearly - directly addressing the idea or the situation, not the personality or the pressure.”
Generosity. Give with the expectation of nothing in return. Almost every relationship I’ve seen in my professional career is a quid pro quo power struggle - not a good look long-term.
Independence. Employees won’t make important and innovative contributions if they aren’t encouraged to think independently. I’ve seen innovation stifled on multiple occasions because that’s not how we do it or there’s a different team in charge of that. When employees are met with resistance every time they bring up a new idea, they eventually stop bringing up new ideas. Or worse, they take their ideas to a competitor.
Culture is not something that a company creates. You can't create culture. Culture is the by-product of consistent behavior. It's what the company does. That's it.
- Jason Fried, Founder & CEO at Basecamp
You can read more about Basecamp’s values here.
Communication
When done correctly, communication contributes to a deliberate, positive company culture.
Basecamp has a complete guide to internal communication. Since communication affects everything else, thinking about it deliberately is a high leverage activity.
A recurring theme throughout the document is creating a single source of truth. This means posting written guidance, policies, and updates in a common place for everyone to see. A single source of truth can’t exist in an email or a meeting. It gets lost in inboxes and forgotten in memories. Effective communication is centrally located and transparent.
Basecamp’s guide includes 30 “rules of thumb.” These are a few of my favorites:
Rule 3. “Internal communication based on long-form writing, rather than a verbal tradition of meetings, speaking, and chatting, leads to a welcomed reduction in meetings, video conferences, calls, or other real-time opportunities to interrupt and be interrupted.”
Rule 9. “Never expect or require someone to get back to you immediately unless it’s a true emergency. The expectation of immediate response is toxic.”
Rule 13. “Five people in a room for an hour isn’t a one hour meeting, it’s a five hour meeting. Be mindful of the tradeoffs.”
Rule 16. “‘Now’ is often the wrong time to say what just popped into your head. It’s better to let it filter through the sieve of time. What’s left is the part worth saying.”
Basecamp also has several recurring writing prompts.
What did you work on today? Every day at 4:30, every employee receives this prompt. Answers are posted on a single page and shared with everyone in the company. The purpose of this one is “loose accountability and strong reflection.”
What will you be working on this week? Every Monday morning, every employee receives this prompt. It’s intended to be a high-level description to prime the mind for the week ahead and give everyone an idea of what’s happening in the company.
Heartbeats. These are written every six weeks by the team leads. They’re a reflection of what the team worked on, what they accomplished, and where they struggled. They’re intended to be read by everyone so the entire company can see progress and give credit where due.
Kickoffs. These are also written every six weeks by the team leads. They detail, at a high level, what the team will be working on. It’s a good way to keep everyone in the company apprised of different projects.
I can’t speak highly enough of Basecamp’s guide to internal communication.
You can read the full document here.
Gumroad on Defining What They Do
Too many companies define their mission in vague terms that sound fancy but lack substance. You’ve definitely seen this before - something like, “we solve our client’s hardest problems by leveraging industry-leading approaches in a way that improves society.”
Wut?
Gumroad speaks in plain English. From their Brand Book,
Forget mission statements, manifestos, and jargony lists of company values. Our purpose is simple and can be stated in 1 sentence: Gumroad helps creators earn a living doing what they love.
If you have a basic understanding of Gumroad - a tool creators use to sell their work - their purpose is clear from that one sentence. But then they take it further.
To define who they are, Gumroad emphasizes who they are not. This clear, concise table says more than any long, convoluted corporate statement:
As much as I hate jargon, sometimes it’s necessary. When you have to use it, make it as non-jargony as possible and then define it. Jargon should enhance experiences and introduce clarity, not create mystery.
Gumroad clearly defines any terms flirting with the line of jargon:
Finally, I love Gumroad’s “How We Act” section of their brand book.
This is the section where most companies would use generic, idyllic, and obvious words that look good but don't convey meaning. Something like - “we always act with integrity.” It looks great on paper, but it’s intentionally vague and doesn’t provide specific direction for employees.
Instead of using stupid language, Gumroad shares examples of how their employees should act in specific situations.
Here’s one of several examples:
You can read the full brand book here.
Coinbase on Defining What They Don’t Do
Equally important to defining your mission is defining your anti-mission.
Coinbase is one of the rare companies who refuses to compromise on their mission, which feels admirable in an age of cancel culture and pandering.
Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, published a blog post titled Coinbase is a mission focused company.
He used the post to make Coinbase's mission perfectly clear: to create an open financial system for the world.
They are bringing economic freedom to people around the world through cryptocurrency - nothing more, nothing less. Armstrong explained how Coinbase has an apolitical culture and does not engage in activism. Time spent working on anything other than the mission reduces the good the company is positioned to accomplish.
I respect this approach immensely. It's a controversial stance in a time when every company feels they need to comment on social justice. For a CEO to stick to his mission for the good of the company - even when he knows it will make people angry - is exceptional leadership. It's also a great example of an independent thinker.
Scribe Media on Defining Mission, Values, and Principles
The Scribe Culture Bible is the best culture document I’ve ever seen, and it clearly works. Scribe Media was named best place to work in Austin in 2019.
In the first paragraph, the Culture Bible reads, "Every member of Scribe is expected to know this inside and out, and will be held accountable to the standards outlined here."
Most companies give you a handbook and require you to sign it, but then you never see or hear about it again. Anyone taking the time to write a handbook should make it valuable enough to use every day.
Near the top of the document is Scribe’s mission statement. It’s one short sentence.
Our mission is to help everyone on earth write, publish, market (and own) their book.
No confusion there.
The rest of the document discusses the company values and principles. Their values - the things they care about - are five simple categories: people, accountability, service, learning, and optimism. Each value is well defined and contextualized for Scribe. I won’t bore you with the details here, but they’re worth checking out in the full document.
The section I found most useful was on their principles. The principles are how the values become actions. To be a valid Scribe principle, it must pass a three-part test:
Principles must state action
Principles must have a valid antithesis
Principles must create the ability to overrule power
What do these mean?
Simply, if a principle doesn’t tell an employee what to do - or what not to do - it doesn’t state action and isn’t valid. If a principle doesn’t have an opposite scenario that could be true in another company, it isn’t valid. And if the lowest level employee can’t use a principle to point out where the CEO is going wrong, it isn’t valid.
Just in case you’re still not following my description, let’s look at two of my favorite Scribe principles.
Principle #6 - Work like an owner.
Inverse: Just do what you’re told, and nothing more.
Of course every company wants you to work like an owner. It means more profits for them. The difference at Scribe is how they align incentives. Their operating agreement dictates that 25% of profits are to be allocated to non-equity owners of the company.
This principle turns their accountability value into an action.
Employees should be thinking outside the box to solve problems. They should be questioning direction from above because leadership usually isn’t closest to the problem. They should pay extra attention to detail, and they should take accountability for outcomes.
In a company where accountability is a core value, employees should work - and be rewarded - like owners.
Principle #7 - The glass is already broken.
Inverse: If it ain't broke, don’t fix it.
This principle turns their learning value into an action.
Scribe’s mission is constant - to help everyone on earth write, publish, market (and own) their book; the way in which they accomplish their mission is fluid.
The best process for today may not be the best process for tomorrow. As you learn new skills, discover new software, and meet new people, you may realize your old way of doing things is no longer the best way to accomplish your goal.
Keeping this in mind, and facilitating an environment where you’re open to change, you should view your processes as already being broken. They work for now, but when you find a better way, you’re not emotionally attached to the old way. You knew it was only temporary.
Scribe highlights this principle with a story from Mark Epstein when he met Buddhist scholar Ajahn Chah:
"We asked him to explain his Buddhist view. What had he learned from his years of contemplation and study? What could we bring back to share with the West?
Before saying a word, he motioned to a glass at his side.
“Do you see this glass? I love this glass. It holds the water admirably. When the sun shines on it, it reflects the light beautifully. When I tap it, it has a lovely ring. Yet for me, this glass is already broken. When the wind knocks it over or my elbow knocks it off the shelf and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ But when I understand that this glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.”
We could use, appreciate, value, and respect the glass without expecting it to last. In fact, we could use it more freely, with more abandon and more care, once we understood that it lacked what Buddhists call inherent existence. The glass, like the self, does not lose its value when we understand that it is not forever."
In a company where learning is a core value, employees should have the freedom to change the way they work. Adaptation should be encouraged.
This section barely scratches the surface of the value captured in Scribe’s Culture Bible. You can read the whole thing here.
Clearbit on Training Managers
The team at Clearbit wrote The Manager’s Handbook as part of their "internal management training program..., with the goal of developing world class managers."
My experience with management has been generally poor. Poor management is often due to a lack of training. In practice, I've seen people become managers, receive no training on how to manage, and simply mimic the actions of the poor managers who came before them. When building a company, you must realize that management is a skill to be learned, not the next, inertia-like step in a monotonous career path.
Clearbit views management as a career change, not a promotion. They have parallel tracks for managers and individual contributors. This prevents "losing a great [individual contributor] and gaining a mediocre manager."
What Clearbit captured - and many management programs miss - is that before you can be a good manager, you have to stop being a shitty person.
Accordingly, the first chapter of the book is titled “Managing Yourself.” The chapter is devoted to ten different areas of personal development. They range from managing your time to seeking guidance to regular exercise and sleep. Performing well at work is dependent on the quality of your body and mind. Until you master the categories in this chapter, you won't be at peak performance levels, and you’ll struggle to manage effectively.
It's counter-intuitive that companies don't focus on personal development since it translates directly to work performance. Clearbit sets the right tone by starting their management handbook with skills and techniques to make you a better person. You can't be a good leader if you don't have your house in order.
These are a few of my favorite points from the chapter.
Guard your time and your calendar. Being on time and present is important for everyone. It’s even more important for a leader. When you schedule a meeting, remember the other people who stopped what they were doing to attend. If you're going to be late, let people know in advance. Also, checking your phone during the meeting means you're not being present. It’s rude and sends the following messages:
My time is more valuable than yours, so you can repeat what I missed while I was looking at Facebook.
I lack the basic attention span and decency to give my full attention to you, and I’d rather check the current price of Bitcoin.
Neither of these statements win the hearts or the minds of your team.
Facing Fear. You can face fears by
Learning to recognize them.
Identifying the motivations behind the fear; and
Leaning into your fears.
Don’t make fear based decisions. Sit down, talk them out, and verbalize your fears. People appreciate vulnerability.
I loved this quote:
To be fair to our brains, historically, threats to our ego were sometimes shortly followed by threats to our survival. Up until a few hundred years ago, an argument with another human could have easily resulted in them killing you. Or perhaps banished from the campfire to the mercy of wolves. There were some very real consequences! The truth is, though, these days a piece of feedback from your boss is unlikely to result in your immediate demise, and giving a humiliatingly bad speech at a company party won't result in you being hunted down by a pack of wolves. Our minds, however, are still in this ancient place; we over-index fear.
Fear is an equally bad tool for motivation. I've experienced this numerous times from different managers at different jobs. People who’ve never learned to lead think fear is an effective tool. The only thing it accomplished was making me resent the person.
Radical Responsibility. Take full responsibility for your circumstances: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Another great quote:
The truth is that nobody can make you feel anything. Emotions are generated internally. When someone is yelling at you, all they are doing is vibrating air molecules toward your ears. You choose to feel what you feel, be that anger, sadness, fear, etc. The choice is yours. That is a hard concept to grasp, and an even harder one to live! In today's world, people are "outraged" at all sorts of things. So the idea that you are outraged because you want to be outraged can be a controversial one. That’s not to belittle the source of the outrage; just know that all the emotions you have associated with any given outrage are your choice.
This is less than 1% of the wisdom from The Manager’s Handbook. You can read the full version here.
The Bottom Line
Creating an excellent company culture can feel like running up the down escalator. Despite the difficulty, the outcome is worth the effort.
Drawing from the companies above, several patterns emerge. For any leaders working to improve your company or your team, this is where you should start.
Have clearly defined, actionable values. Basecamp and Scribe Media define their values simply and precisely. Nothing is left open to interpretation. Employees have plenty of daily decisions to make. Don’t make them waste energy interpreting your values.
Be deliberate about communication. Basecamp references a single source of truth. Scribe references institutional memory. Clearbit devotes a chapter of their Manager’s Handbook to communication. They all minimize confusion by putting important information in a central location. Basecamp is an asynchronous communication company. I can’t count the number I’ve times I’ve felt pressure to respond to an email late at night. The asynchronous communication policy eliminates that pressure.
At Basecamp, there is never an expectation of immediate response. There is only an expectation that you will get back to me when you have time to do so. Just because I had time to ask doesn't mean that you immediately have time to answer.
- Jason Fried
Have a clear mission. Scribe, Gumroad, and Coinbase have short, clear mission statements. Knowing the goal decreases confusion and increases a feeling of purpose.
Focus on self-improvement. Clearbit teaches their managers to be better people before teaching them to lead. Scribe emphasizes the importance of learning over knowing. Great companies understand that they improve when their employees improve - and the improvement shouldn’t be limited to niche, work specific skills.
Perhaps the biggest overlapping theme from these documents is the leader’s duty to improve himself. Before you can build a healthy environment for your employees, you must build a healthy mind of your own. Once your house is in order, then borrow liberally from the documents above. Take what works for your company. Discard what doesn’t. Re-work and re-word. Reach out for advice.
Lead your employees to be the best people they’re capable of becoming. And lead your company to be a place where the best employees are dying to work.
