Support a Thriving Culture with Traditions, Artifacts and Secret Rooms

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Read time: 2 min

At a glance:

Quote: Want a thriving business? Support a thriving culture
Lesson: Three ideas to go beyond behaviors

Quote

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast, operational excellence for lunch and everything else for dinner"
Peter Drucker

Lesson

In branding, one of the most neglected audiences are employees. Although companies spend millions of dollars on brand campaigns and external facing activations, a bad experience with customer service can upend all of that.

Employees are the biggest under leveraged group of brand ambassadors and when they are on the same page and marching to the same beat, the effects are extremely powerful.

However, most culture efforts are one dimensional and detached from brand, becoming a HR values project instead of a company imperative at the highest levels.

Culture is NOT a bunch of posters on the wall

In this issue, I share with you three examples of how to create an environment for a unique and powerful culture to thrive.

HINT: It’s not just putting your core values on the wall or a desk top wall paper

Three examples to draw inspiration from:

1/ Traditions

Pumpkin carving contest at NASA

At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, they hold an annual pumpkin carving contest. It’s completely voluntary and not mandated by management. This is essential, because a tradition is never compulsory, if it is, it becomes a routine. And they are not the same thing.

At NASA’s JPL, their pumpkin contest is “out of this world”, from programmable pumpkins to pumpkins that literally hover above ground, engineers show off their skills by going all out.

What kinds of traditions will help your employees bond while cultivating behaviors that exemplify the culture? Pumpkin engineering far outweighs value posters like “Creativity” and “Fun”, don’t you think?

2/ Artifacts

Medallion and Ceremony at Medtronic

At Medtronic, the giant medical device company, every new employee receives a hefty medallion that is inscribed with the company mission in a ceremony. And when its founder Earl Bakken was alive, he would personally present them at multiple ceremonies around the world every year.

The artifact represents the commitment to the company mission and highlights the induction of the employee into a culture that puts patient welfare at the heart of the business.

Photo credit: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/the-3-best-run-companies-in-the-healthcare-sector

Artifacts don’t have to be extravagant and lavish, it is a physical representation of what is important.

3/ Secret rooms

Speakeasy at Pixar

The legendary Pixar studios has many secret rooms, but the most famous is the speakeasy that you can only access through a tiny access panel. It was in Andrew Gordon’s new office when Pixar moved into Emeryville, CA, where he noticed an access panel that opened up to a small room that was meant for air conditioning maintenance.

He had other plans and outfitted it with Christmas lights, shag carpet and even a fully stocked bar. When Steve Jobs and others found out, they loved it. It became a VIP hangout. Dubbed the “Love Lounge”, as the signage says above the entry, it was visited by the likes of Tim Allen, Randy Newman and Roy Disney.

Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/98868154304794481/

Frivolous? You may say so, but what is a better way to experience “Creativity” and “Out of the box” and “Fun”? A value poster? Or a secret Love Lounge? You decide.

Conclusion

Culture is not a set of posters on the wall. To encourage a thriving culture, think beyond behaviors. Think about how people can experience and discover what’s to be expected of them without telling them. Whether it’s traditions, artifacts or secret rooms, the key is to never force something, it should be organic and real.

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