The startups I’ve worked for in recent years have had incredible cultures. Even though one is top-down and another quite flat, both are growing fast with excellent qualities that are difficult to replicate.
From his 1985 book Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein wrote, “The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening.”
At some companies, inefficient processes and wasted effort can be all too common – and negatively affect margins, efficiency, and team spirit. I believe one of the most important qualities in terms of culture is continuous improvement. Teams have to get better.
Peter Drucker is attributed to having said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.
Great culture is strategy. And the team is the product.
Teachers of Great Culture
We can look to many amazing examples from both innovators and industry titans for guidance.
Toyota has in recent years been regarded as the most valuable car brand in the world – even after an 80+ year history. The culture created at Toyota – with management principles like Kaizen and 3M, and Toyota Kata – has contributed to not just Toyota’s success but also to the postwar economic success of Japan.
Amazon also practices Kaizen. As the world’s most customer-centric organization, Amazon has had the spirit of lean management since day one. “[Bezos] knew that customers would not pay for waste—and that focus on waste prevention is a fundamental concept of lean.” – When Toyota met e-commerce: Lean at Amazon, McKinsey.
Spotify is well recognized for its Engineering Culture. Check out their infographics and this fantastic description: “This is a journey in progress, not a journey completed, and there’s a lot of variation from squad to squad. So the stuff in the video isn’t all true for all squads all the time, but it appears to be mostly true for most squads most of the time :o)”.
And more… Netflix has its 128-page Culture deck, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater has radical transparency, and fully distributed Zapier has it’s ebook Ultimate Guide to Remote Work.
Kaizen Philosophy of Continuous Improvement
“Kaizen means improvement. Moreover, it means continuing improvement in personal life, home life, social life, and working life. When applied to the workplace Kaizen means continuing improvement involving everyone – managers and workers alike.” Masaaki Imai, Founder of Kaizen Institute.
Small step improvements allow the organization to build constructive habits including all levels of the organization. So while it may seem counterintuitive, ask smaller questions – and focus on smaller rewards.
Most problems are process-related, not people related. Thus as product managers, we need to constantly reinforce this. Making mistakes is human- learning from them is where we should be accountable. Focus on understanding what went wrong and how the team together can get better from it.
Toyota 3M Process
- Waste (“Muda”): This includes Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-used Talent, Transport, Inventories, Motion, and Excess Processing.
- Overburden or Overutilization (“Muri”): Overutilization leads to mistakes.
- Unevenness or Variation (“Mura”): Results from variation in customer demand, process times, or cycle times.
Toyota Kata
Mike Rother’s book, Toyota Kata, takes the continuous improvement process observed at the Toyota Production System and makes it teachable. Kata are practice routines intended to build strong habits. It goes like this:
- Understand the Direction
- Grasp the Current Condition
- Establish the Next Target Condition
- Iterate small step improvements toward Target Condition
A great way to apply this is to create “improvement themes” out of retrospectives (as is done at Spotify).
Build Better Products
There are many principles, philosophies, and methods available to help improve your craft. Continuous Improvement is a fundamental quality of great company cultures and great teams alike. Try something new, and just do what works.
As a product leader, getting better doesn’t always guarantee a win. But better teams will build better products.