I loved this brief, recent article in Xconomy. The author, Gregory T. Huang, asked six CEO’s for one simple word to describe their company culture. And to defend it. The words selected for the various company culture descriptions were:
- Paranoid
- Execution
- Competent
- Humble
- Easy
- Obsessed
Of course, I had to think about the single word for Daily Grommet, and I’d have to go with what D.C. Denison said about us in a recent Boston Globe article:
Adventurous
When we started the company Joanne and I agreed that our goal was to give our customers a daily “ten second adventure.” That early wordsmith-ing is still posted on an office door. So when we read the article we all just smiled and said, “Wow. He got us.” The reality is that no one has ever done what we do before: combining original content, community, actual commerce and live conversation in one simple vehicle. And trying new technologies all the while. As one of our writers, Emily Costello recently said, “It’s just hitting me. Daily really does mean daily.”
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Beyond that we take personal and commercial responsibility for the Grommet choices. We test a lot of crazy products. We back young unknown companies. And we stick our faces on video. How many company teams wake up to that reality every day? Adventurous covers it.
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But, I would love to know what words other people would use to describe their own company culture. Feel free to leave an anonymous comment if you need to protect your job! (Or also feel free to re-do the Daily Grommet word, if you think we might be better served with another idea.)
by Jules Pieri at Daily Grommet
Photo source: Link here
This comes to me as a good post on a good topic.
It is interesting, the use of one word description to research the organisational culture….. and what wealth of information and inferences that one could derive out of them. At this point in time I wouldn't even want to try this one out myself. But glad to have read about organisational culture here on intent.
Just for the discussion… how would you see the role of the organisational culture in HR processes? For example recruitment and HR development. Does the recruitment process taking into consideration of the adaptability of a human resource to a particular culture, if this is takne into consideration would it be lead to a process of exclusion nad not being able to tap into to the right talent… What if the right talent and skill sets an organisation is required for does no the compatibility to the organisational culture….. where do you draw lines.. if nay has to be drawn… nad who should draw them….. Also any research or analyses of how and to what extent the organisational culutures affects the performance and efficiency of an organisation…. is it quantifiable.. etc?
thx
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Simplicity ~
The Beauty in Chaos
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MoonlightMagik….it sounds like you might be an expert, or at least a deep thinker in organizational culture. So your own answers to your questions would be fascinating. I am reflecting on our own company in this piece, which is a fast-paced start-up in which decisions are made intuitively, quite often.
That would apply to hires. Being "adventurous" has not been an explicit requirement in hiring people, but I know that when we meet a candidate who needs things buttoned up and clearly prescribed, they are not for us. The company is still in the birth canal…we don't have time to dress things up in the middle of labor. We need people with courage and confidence and self-direction. And also with a huge spirit of fun and curiosity. We know it when we see it.
Jules Pieri
Founder and CEO
Daily Grommet
http://www.dailygrommet.com
Hi Jules,
Thanks for the complements. It probably is little of former and more of the latter. BUt answer to the queries all lies in your response and the way you run your Co. Sounds 'exciting' well… thats the first word came to my mind… pretty close to adventurous. I am sure it will be a safe and uneventful delivery followed by a very healthy growth spurt!
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Simplicity ~
The Beauty in Chaos
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