Bottom Up Culturing
Inspired by Zappos’ event, I want to put my $.02 on the topic of building an admirable corporate culture that can resonates beyond the walls of your business. Building the right corporate culture that focuses on applying a hefty dose of humanity and social values can and will transform your business into a self-powering economic unit whose action can reverberate to all of its partners and customers.
Take Zappos or Google for an example. Unlike many businesses that are still being run from the traditional cultural model that give most (if not all) of its power to the management to predefine the MO of the company as a whole, Zappos and Google achieved the unachievable (so we thought). They give the power to the employees as the builder of the culture. Bottom-up they said. It is how business is supposed to be done, from the inside out. Inside contentment breeds external performance. Inside performance prevent cross functioning and brings about a higher level of concerns to all of the participants. Ultimately, the success and the sustainability of the business becomes the embodiment of the internally generated belief system (culture) that is positively self-feeding and become the communal business compass.
I truly applaud this method. In the sea of lost businesses, the fundamental example that these two companies have given us, are priceless. These two companies are successful in tickling the very fundamental nature of every person…to do good and to perform when they are given the chance. Chances like this breed trust and trust breeds candor which leads to commitment and ultimately, performance.
Companies, nowadays, are struggling to decide whether to support or to motivate their employee to perform to the fullest of their potential. Support is a backward (or downward…whicever you prefer) focused management system while motivation is a forward (or upward) focused management system. The internally generated culture can blurr this distinction. Alas, company can have the best of both worlds. What a luxury.
Truly, a revolutionary way of thinking from the two very revolutionary companies of our time.
