Executives Don’t Decide if the Company Culture Is Good. Employees Do. - Galaxy Brain⁠↗

Often, there are two company cultures. There’s the glossy, official, Comms Department-approved culture — and then there’s the real, lived experience of showing up every day and working at a place. If the difference between those two versions is large enough, the result is generally serious, sustained, employee-management resentment. Let’s call that “culture gap.”

your company culture is not a frozen Sega Genesis cartridge — you can’t just take it out, blow on it, and turn it back on again and start anew. Company cultures solidify slowly, taking form over years and decades. They’re complex ecosystems because they’re made up of real, live human beings — not lines of code.

the type of executive who thinks they can just reset company culture with a sweeping, restrictive decree just straight up isn’t a very good manager. And they’re not a very good manager because deep down, they don’t trust their employees.

But let’s be clear: this position is bullshit and disingenuous. There are all sorts of positions, behaviors, and statements that white cis-gendered straight men don’t consider “political” just simply because they represent the status quo. For people who don’t occupy those identities, their very existence — and talking about it, and the realities that accompany it — are automatically deigned “political,” and, as such, outside of “acceptable” discourse. Starting a cryptocurrency company to try to decentralize the global financial system? Apparently, not political. Talking about healthcare as a human right or paid family leave in the company chat? Political. Again, this is bullshit.

Strategy and product visions only go so far. And success in those areas has limited impact on real company culture. What makes working at a company fulfilling is actually quite simple. You have to align the goals of your organization with the health and stability of the employees.

This week, Basecamp demonstrated that no amount of unique vision and advocacy can separate you from legions of traditional firms afraid to relinquish control. You can talk a big, profitable game about company culture, as Basecamp’s founders have for years. But in the end, executives don’t decide if your company culture is good. Your employees do.