Flowers, Game Theory and our Company Culture
I had a great discussion the other day with a Professor who specialized in the 
Game Theory. We had a nice discussion about flowers. Flowers compete for bees (guess why?) each flower can balance how much energy is put into its marketing (the colors, flowers, smell) and how much into its sales (the quality of the nectar). I really liked the discussion and some results are really interesting, for example, it is possible to predict which flower species thrive when they grow close to each other, and which fail.
But what really interested me was our discussion on Company Culture. The professor (who is also an investor and very much into business) put a lot of focus on the company culture. He told me that this is more important than the marketing or the product, because the marketing and product can change but the culture, the DNA of the company is very hard to change.
So what is the company culture of Typemock.
Off my head here are the values we value.
- High integrity workplace
(empowerment, teamwork, responsibility and accountability) - Getting things done attitude
- Strive for excellence and personal growth
- Customer-focused
- Learning by experimenting and measuring
3 Comments to “Flowers, Game Theory and our Company Culture”
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Eli,
You’ve been writing very interesting postings about management. Congratulations.
It’s important to mention that a company culture emerges and evolves from its employees. Of course the management should nurture and try to influence this process, but at the end of day is a independent process.
And after a culture grows and matures it’s very dificult to change it. Not impossible, but it takes bold decisions and time. Do not believe a consultant that says he will change your company culture because he doesn’t have the power to do so.
Gracias Eduardo,
I think that the Management has a *huge* effect on the culture. For example, we place high integrity as a major value. If someone doesn’t manage to follow, they won’t be able to continue working for Typemock (natural selection?)
Because we are still a young company there is a lot that we can do to define on our culture. As a manager we can set an example with our actions, we can be consistence, praise those who act correctly and challenge those who don’t.
I have made a cultural change in Typemock, this lead to many organization changes, as I sought to find the best management structure, and it lead to many people who weren’t compatible to grow outside Typemock.
Sure management has its role in building a culture, as I already said. But management do not decide: This is our culture, period. If you don’t agree you may go home.
Actually this will probably drive your company culture somewhere else.