# Part 1 with Alfred Lin, former COO of Zappos ## Definition of culture: Everyday **core values** and **real action** of each member of the team in pursuit of the company **mission**. ## Why does culture matter - TL; DR: To manifest your destiny. - Gandhi's quote: beliefs -> thoughts -> words -> actions -> habits ->values-> destiny - It becomes the first principles for making decisions and aligning people to the values of the company. - **It can help you retain the right employees/colleagues and let go of the others.** ## How to create the values (or Who defines the culture)? - The founder: - What matters most to me? - What is most inmportant to the business? - Who are the people I like working with and why? Take these and add to values of the company. - Who do I not like working with and why? Take the opposite and add to values. ## Example values ### Zappos with my bastardisation of it 1. Bias to action. 2. Humility to fess up and say when you are wrong to yourself. 3. Praise the other person so that they know they did something right. 4. Sometimes you will be called out; try to understand why that person is saying that more than fight back. 5. Teamwork is important; fights are not about who is right and who is not. The point of the fight should be to see how to make a better action to decision that pushes the company forward. So company firstly-> then your dept -> then your team -> then you. 6. Trust: when someone tells you something, trust they know why. Similarly, test yourself to also make a good decision. 7. Trust allows you to have conflict and debate; CnD needed to know if you reached the right answer So that you can commit or submit to the task or the objective or the mission. 8. Can do, not can't do. 9. Will do: you are accountable to what you commit to. You need to be motivated to do your thing And generate the result or output you promised. And I will hold you accountable after a certain point of time. - Culture fit is key because this is how you know if someone believes the mission; so interview for it just as much as skills! - Culture is like exercise; it is a daily habit and you get great culture by practicing it everyday. ### Airbnb examples 1. Champion the mission. The mission will never change so you gotta champion it. Why do Airbnb do what they do (their mission)? Friendship/belonging anywhere you go. 2. Be [[7 Autonomy is freedom from coercion|creative]]: a “cereal” entrepreneur. # Part 2: Brian Chesky of AirBnb - Three cofounders: you want to work with people who intimidate you with their intelligence and that makes you want to raise your game. #agreed - You need to sorta become inseparable with your cofounder that you feel like you become a special force. #agreed - You start with a focus on making the product and then you do the company building together. And you do both product building and company building together. This is the core of teamwork in founders. #agreed - Diversity is great in general except in one thing: diversity in values. You can not be diverse in values. #agreed - Culture is about building a company to endure. - Culture is hard to measure and so gets discounted. - Worst thing about culture is it pays off long-term but not short term. #agreed - It is what you hire and fire based on. Culture makes you hire slowly and deliberately; it is about building for the long term. #agreed - ==Answer this==: What is unique about you and what do you want to hire based on? This will become your values and your culture. #values # Related - [[9a1 Big company missions]]