Cultivating a Culture That Thrives
I have always been intrigued by people, cultures, and people’s behavior inside of the said culture. Back in 2006 when my company was a startup, the culture was easy to understand. We had a perception of “every person should wear whichever hat is needed to get the job done,” it was also an “I want to learn everything I can as I work every day.” What I realize now, more so than ever is this culture type resulted in a set of goals that were effectively communicated and emphasized. Furthermore, no one person, including myself as an owner should sabotage this culture knowingly or not. What I mean by sabotage; having a common goal that changes too often or allows any exceptions to hurt the culture or goal. Essentially sticking to the “do it right the first time with the utmost quality, to your best ability,” with any task you were asked to perform.
After six years in business and multiple new hires, around 2012, it was noticeable that the culture shifted and was going through “growing pains.” What I didn’t realize was: instead of being relentless in my efforts to keep a firm and united culture based on a set of goals, my focus was on other areas accomplishing tasks that did not tie directly back to my role, which was to uphold our culture and reinforce our set of goals to grow our business. This created many frustrations on my behalf and my staff. It also bled into our customers, which consequently lowered our income as well. I changed the set of goals too often and complicated things more than need be, which caused internal conflict and led to non-congruent business operations and confusion. Thankfully, due to our length of business tenure and wonderful customers, it was not a knock-out punch.
What I learned from all this and now have clarity on, is this. When a set of goals are agreed upon and bought into from the members of the organization, coupled with a relentless adherence to a culture that you want to see and work in every day, can create the space for a company to grow exponentially. It will produce happier customers, employees, and principles. It becomes a family that you want to see every day because you love what you stand for personally and know the person to your left/right stand for the same or similar principles. It creates trust and opens up unprecedented levels of communication and cooperation. Through this new level of collaboration, I’ve included the opening statement from our newly created general business services brochure. I add this not as a sales pitch. It’s to reflect our efforts as a collective brain-trust to produce the best quality work we are able, whether it is with computers or writing. Let me know your thoughts on what you get out of this article and our opening statement. I’d like your feedback.
“Adam D Technology has been in business since 2006 and has spent these years perfecting our brand, service offerings, and creating high standards of quality control which previously did not exist in our industry. Not only do we repair computers, but we also provide a myriad of other services and strive to facilitate every need in the technical space. We are a unique firm that takes pride in sharing our knowledge and expertise of technology and appreciate the importance of premium customer service. Without this level of quality customer service we would not have a business, and it just so happens we’re also great with computers and wires. We challenge the current “standard of service” in technical support and believe our customers can feel invested in our solution process, leaving them truly satisfied that they’ve worked with Adam D Technology.
Let us be your number one resource and solution provider for any computer or technical problems you may have.”
The three books that helped lead me down this path of awareness are EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey, Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard, and Crucial Accountability by Kerry Patterson and Joseph Grenny. Please check out these books if you have not read them already. If you have read them, reread them, they’re great! -Said Tony the Tiger.
I am open to suggestions, comments, and you sharing your story. You may direct message me by visiting www.adamdellos.com/about-me/ or emailing me at me@adamdellos.com
Have a stellar evening and day at work tomorrow!
**Original article written on 21 Feb 2018**
