4 ms·

"100% failure rate at trying to change a company's culture." - Buffett, http://billflagg.blogspot.com/2010/05/berkshire-hathaway-2010.html http://billflagg.blog

• tomjen3 15y ago
  Yes, for the kind of companies which where part of the sample. Which where no doubt the kind of companies that Buffett likes to invest in. Which are not the tech start-ups that people who come here wants to start. It is possible to change the culture for a small company especially if it is you and your friends. It is properly not possible to deliberately change the culture in MS.
  • deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  • sayemm 15y ago
    On the contrary, Buffett actually likes to invest in companies in which he can stay hands-off and not have any influence on the culture at all. He just likes to find real winners and help them keep winning. That's the significance of that quote, and that's why the personalities of the founders are so very important. You either have a great culture set from the start which lasts, or you have a broken one, which is largely irreversible later on.
• philwelch 15y ago
  The article is more about changing the culture that a given individual finds himself in.
  • sayemm 15y ago
    I included that Buffett piece not to argue against Justin Kan's write-up, but in full support of it. That Buffett quote goes to show just how resilient culture is for the long-haul in organizations, and how very important it is to set it right or "hack it" from the beginning.