The technology, the culture and the breakfast. About corporate culture.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Culture Eats Technology for Breakfast”. It is often presented at keynotes and is intended to say that it is the corporate culture and not just the technology that is decisive for the success of digital transformation projects. While this statement is probably undisputed, I often find that people in the digital sector in particular cannot say exactly what this corporate culture is all about. I differentiate between 3 non-exhaustive dimensions that I consider relevant when it comes to culture.

Innovation culture

For me, the most important thing is a culture of innovation that produces genuine, radical paradigm shifts. This means not orienting oneself on what already exists and trying to improve it(which is not innovation, but rather evolution), but trying to solve a problem on a greenfield site, so to speak. This actually poses a very simple question: with today’s technological possibilities: How would I solve the problem if I didn’t know all the other solutions that already exist?

There is a lot of talk these days about the “disruptive” players. They all have or are in the process of disrupting markets by offering customers a better product.

Truly new and good solutions emerge when someone dares to shout “We can do much better! “.

You can take any tech company that has been super-successful in recent years as an example: It was always these radicalized ambitions paired with the will to not think in existing conventions that led to the creation of really new and good products. What didn’t Blackberry have in 2005 that Apple had? Or BMW in 2009 didn’t have what Tesla had? The technology? The money? There was and is simply a lack of innovation culture.

Fail-Fast -> Bail-Fast

This also includes the fail-fast philosophy. And among those who don’t understand it, the “fail” is then stylized as something cool. That’s nonsense, of course. Fail is always bad and certainly not cool. However, the essential thing about failure is that it is unavoidable. The fail-fast culture therefore aims to prevent the damage from becoming even greater when it is actually clear that the product or service will not be successful. This has nothing to do with “throwing in the towel”. In most cases, you are convinced of the actual strategy, but have realized through the first fail that the implementation was not good and have learned from the mistakes accordingly. It is therefore perhaps better to speak of a “bail-fast” culture.

Organizational culture

If you compare the organizational cultures of different technology companies, the picture is no longer so uniform. On the one hand, we are familiar with these kinds of dictatorships in which one leading figure shapes the entire organization. But I think, at least in the well-known examples, this is exaggerated in terms of the external effect. In many cases, such a model is then taken up by smaller companies (or their owners). My personal experience is that these leaders are usually unable to meet their own expectations. And fail in the long term in whatever way.

A democratized company model is becoming increasingly popular. A model that delegates decision-making power to small teams. The advantage of this model is that such companies get by with incredibly lean management structures and the employee experiences natural added value. On the other hand, it also puts the employee in charge. In addition, the teams exercise a kind of social self-control. In discussions with large companies, I repeatedly encounter considerable skepticism. Especially when it comes to abuse and loss of control.

However, the fraud cases in the banking sector in recent years have clearly shown that, despite all the security processes in place, very hierarchically managed companies are not at all protected against abuse. On the contrary. An introverted organization focused on power structures seems to promote a climate that literally breeds such cases.

Popcorn culture

The third dimension is the exterior. The foosball table, the slide, the muesli bar buffet, the seating areas, the pinball machines, the soda fountains, the integrated kitchens and canteens, the showers and relaxation areas, the Thai massage, the Nerf guns and office quadcopters, the cocoon chairs. The whole nerd playground. It’s part of the good tone, but it doesn’t define anything.

Employees should feel comfortable. No more and no less. This obsessively freaky and extravagant approach may go down well with customers and non-techies (“that’s the Google culture now”), but many employees don’t think much of it. Of course, drinks and basic catering are part of it. But not everyone likes to play a round of “World of Warcraft” in the middle of the day. Or take a nap in the mediation room. Many simply want to do a good job and be able to concentrate.

 

This article originally appeared as part of my “Transformed!” column on t3n.