4 ms·

Because of a toxic culture or because of other problems? I don't think I've ever heard of a company brought down by cultural problems. At most, cultural factor

Because of a toxic culture or because of other problems? I don't think I've ever heard of a company brought down by cultural problems. At most, cultural factors seemed to have contributed to the problems, such as the issues caused by strict stack ranking at Microsoft, which punished teamwork. Some places are pressure-cookers and shark-tanks, but then some people love heat and pressure and are, you know, sharks.

throwaway2390 10y ago
Enron was noted for their management philosophy of promoting the top X%, and firing the bottom X%, with the idea that they'll "naturally select" for good employees. Instead, they selected for people willing to do anything, including sabotage, betrayal, and lying, to get ahead. This worked out famously.
nostrademons 10y ago
I think the studies on corporate culture have shown that it's critically important to have a culture (Built to Last has a chapter on "cult-like cultures"), but it doesn't matter (much) what that culture is. The idea is that culture is a unifying principle for the organization; it's a way for the company to clearly delineate what it stands for, attract people who believe in that too, and repel people who don't. The world is an awfully big place; for basically every repugnant belief you can think of, there is somebody, somewhere, who believes that it's common-sense. If you don't like it, work for or patronize a different organization. Lyft's entire differentiator is "We're not as evil as Uber."
deleted 10y ago
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freyr 10y ago
"Inside Enron... the prevailing corporate culture was to push every thing to its limits: business practices, laws, personal behavior." (WSJ) Sounds familiar. Enron's financial problems were deeply entwined with its cultural problems. A successful business can mask a bad culture for a while, but it's not even clear Uber is running a good business.

throwaway2390 10y ago

Enron was noted for their management philosophy of promoting the top X%, and firing the bottom X%, with the idea that they'll "naturally select" for good employees. Instead, they selected for people willing to do anything, including sabotage, betrayal, and lying, to get ahead. This worked out famously.

nostrademons 10y ago

I think the studies on corporate culture have shown that it's critically important to have a culture (Built to Last has a chapter on "cult-like cultures"), but it doesn't matter (much) what that culture is. The idea is that culture is a unifying principle for the organization; it's a way for the company to clearly delineate what it stands for, attract people who believe in that too, and repel people who don't. The world is an awfully big place; for basically every repugnant belief you can think of, there is somebody, somewhere, who believes that it's common-sense. If you don't like it, work for or patronize a different organization. Lyft's entire differentiator is "We're not as evil as Uber."

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

freyr 10y ago

"Inside Enron... the prevailing corporate culture was to push every thing to its limits: business practices, laws, personal behavior." (WSJ) Sounds familiar. Enron's financial problems were deeply entwined with its cultural problems. A successful business can mask a bad culture for a while, but it's not even clear Uber is running a good business.