On company culture & employee influence
I'm always surprised seeing people have calls for daily stand up. Calls??? 💀
— — (@heykastrah) November 21, 2024
Up Famasi, please 💙
Most — if not all — calls are to sync on direction, and this happens on days selected by each team.
Everything else is text. I even set bot so we don't end up with calls 🤣 https://t.co/i2Y63ks6kt pic.twitter.com/985gCdAtAf
While the vision and personality of a company’s founder plays a pivotal role in establishing its initial culture, the reality is that employees — especially the early hires — also have a crucial, yet often overlooked, influence in shaping a company's long-term identity and day-to-day standards.
For example:
When Apple opened its retail stores, early employees like Ron Johnson (who later became the CEO of J.C. Penney and vice president of merchandising at Target) helped create the now-iconic Apple Store experience, which emphasises customer service, design, and a seamless user experience.
The early engineers at Google, many of whom came from prestigious universities and had a strong background in computer science, contributed to a culture of technical excellence and a focus on solving complex problems. They were also key in developing Google's famous "20% time" policy, where employees are encouraged to spend 20% of their time on side projects, which has led to many of Google's innovative products.
Similarly, the phrase "Don't be evil" is often attributed to Paul Buchheit, an early employee at Google and the creator of Gmail. While it may have been a collaborative effort among the early team to establish guiding principles, Buchheit is credited with coining the phrase. This phrase, which was part of Google's original code of conduct, was a reflection of the company's early commitment to ethical principles. While it has since been replaced with "Do the right thing," it was a powerful statement that influenced the company's culture of responsibility and integrity.
Early engineers at Microsoft, such as Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, helped establish a culture of technical excellence and a focus on execution. They were known for their intense work ethic and commitment to shipping products that met high standards.
These employees, amongst others, did not need to be the founders in order to significantly contribute to the company's culture. Their influence extended beyond just the "good, catchy" situations, as they also played a key role in defining the consequences and accountability measures within the organisation.
As Google's former Senior Vice President of People Operations, Laszlo Bock played a crucial role in shaping the company's HR policies. He emphasised transparency, fairness, and psychological safety, which are integral to how Google addresses consequences. His initiatives, such as the "gDNA" program, focused on aligning employee behaviour with Google's core values, ensuring that consequences for actions are consistently and fairly applied.
As Amazon's CTO, Werner Vogels has influenced the company's approach to accountability in engineering practices. His emphasis has ensured that engineering teams are held accountable for the quality and reliability of their work, aligning with Amazon's broader culture of customer-centricity.
Ayla Stern is the CEO and founder of Humu, a company that uses behavioural science to improve workplace culture. But before Humu, she worked at Google, where she contributed to people operations. Stern's work at Google focused on developing programs that enhance employee well-being and productivity, emphasising the importance of psychological safety and positive behaviour in the workplace.
But this isn’t just a “tech world” thing as it’s easy to assume so from the above examples. It cuts across other industries, too.
Kristine Tompkins was an early employee at Patagonia and later became the CEO of Patagonia’s sister company, Patagonia Provisions. She was a key advocate for deeply integrating environmental responsibility into Patagonia's core business model, ensuring the company's environmental mission wasn't just a marketing slogan but a fundamental part of its operations. She helped establish programs like “1% for the Planet”, which was officially launched in 2002 but had roots in the company’s long-standing commitment to donating a portion of its profits to environmental causes.
And there’s Rick Ridgeway, who’s Known as the “Godfather of Sustainability” at Patagonia. He helped formalise the company’s environmental initiatives and played a key role in establishing its “Footprint Chronicles”, a program that tracks the environmental impact of Patagonia’s supply chain.
Early employees at Zappos, an online shoe retailer, particularly those in customer service roles, helped establish the company’s core values, such as “Deliver WOW Through Service.” If a mistake is made, employees are empowered to resolve it in a way that “wows” the customer. This approach has created a culture where accountability is tied to exceptional service.
As an aside, it’s interesting to see that some of the above mentioned names have started/led companies in line with their core contributions. At Humu, Stern applies behavioural science to influence positive cultural changes, encouraging companies to adopt practices that foster a supportive and accountable work environment.
I’m sure more examples like these exist, which takes me to something we often forget — when you join a company and you’re being paid salary, you’re not there as a favour. You’re an employee who has a career to build, especially when you’re in your early stages. What contributions do you want to be remembered for? The answer isn't in worrying about what'll be said in your absence or trying to please people needlessly. It's in doing good work and doing what you say you'll do.
Some folks have said it’s difficult to poach from Famasi and it’s like we’re a cult. That’s good, because it means we’re on to something as a team. When employees are involved in shaping culture, they build stronger relationships, leading to better collaboration. And a culture shaped by employees is more adaptable to change.
used to worry about what my life would mean in the years to come, but not anymore.
— — (@heykastrah) November 15, 2023
bc today, if someone says @FamasiAfrica made their life easier, it’s v enough.
when you think of it, the ever-changing answer to “how can we make X easier” provides a solid meaning.
Conversely, when employees feel disconnected from the decision-making process, they are less likely to buy into and champion new initiatives. A culture that does not encourage meaningful employee input risks stifling creativity and missing out on valuable ideas that could improve the business.
It goes without saying that the point isn’t just for employees. It’s also for founders to be open to input, which is the case for serious founders anyways, since they understand that when employees aren't empowered to help define the company's cultural norms and values, negative behaviours like gossip, toxic cliques, and unethical practices will take root and thrive. Employees become disengaged, morale suffers, and the overall work environment deteriorates.
On the flip side, when employees are actively involved in shaping the culture, they develop a stronger sense of ownership and pride in their work. This leads to better collaboration, more adaptability to change, and a healthier, more positive work environment overall. The culture becomes a true reflection of the people who make up the organisation rather than just a top-down mandate from leadership.
Famasi will be four this year, which means people have come and gone. The Culture Canvas in use today is a tool that exists based on the dictates of those who were here between 2021 and 2022. Very proud to say "communicate like nobody can read your mind" is in the Canvas because of me. It continues to evolve as we grow, and we've started 2025 with necessary edits.
Cheers to the next four years of battle-tested culture 🥂