The ultimate sign of corporate popularity is when your company’s name becomes a verb, like Google. I guess you can call this a commercial status symbol, denoting its societal position and everyday recognition.
Google, either directly or through a replacement platform, has taken front and centre in all of our lives. They have changed the way we seek information. Many a time when I use Google, I get nostalgic about the way we used to look up information up in books — paper books — placed prominently on a shelf in a library. At the same time, while watching a movie or TV show, I grab my phone and instantly Google whatever curiosity is rolling about in my mind.
Not only has Google shaped the way we work and even live, it has changed how we speak of research or look something up — Let’s “google” it.
Achieving this position and with more than $60 billion in the bank, what next? Larry Page, CEO of Google, thinks it is time to rewrite their mission. Their mission was to “organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” and which they did. Some analysts would say they are now in danger of hitting the invisible ceiling that limits growth.
They have become who they said they would be and effectively accomplished almost all they can. What a nice problem to have.
Page is now wondering, “How does Google use all their resources and have a much more positive impact on the world?” He wants Google to do something on a bigger scale — implying different — than they are now. He is going to rewrite the mission of the company to take the next generation of big bets rather than sticking with today’s mission and ultimately becoming irrelevant.
Learning of their plan to rewrite their mission statement made me wonder: “If Google rewrites its mission, will they also need to change their culture?” For all of the Google copycats, will they have to copy new artefacts?
I propose that yes, they do. Underlying any culture is a set of assumptions, that are unseen and not cognitively identified in everyday interaction. These “unspoken rules” are often taboo to discuss inside the company.
Culture at this level is the underlying and driving element, yet leaders often overlook it. Thus we have “copy cat” cultures and stated cultures that are far from what is actually practised.
When these assumptions are recognised and understood, as they were originally at Google, you are able to build a powerful culture. Properly handled, these assumptions inform a corporate’s values, which in time become rituals — the collective behaviour and artefacts. The fabric of a company’s culture are the myths and stories that reveal its history and influence how employees understand what the company values and believes.
Before we address the artefacts, it is becoming clear that when you change your mission, you need to examine if your new one is being driven from a different set of assumptions. For Google, it seems to be, as it is for most companies when they make a fundamental change of this magnitude. When your mission changes, you need to change your culture to align with this new future direction.
Now for the artefacts. They are what can be seen, felt and heard by employees and, even, outsiders. In Google’s case, the artefacts include their famed offices, food plans, and work scheduling. Since these are easily seen, mistakenly, in an attempt to copy Google’s culture, many copy the artefacts without embracing the real culture.
For example, “our offices are like Google’s”. The “Googliness” runs deep, much deeper that it resides at the assumption level. Copying artefacts is not the same as becoming like their culture.
Assuming that Google does recreate its culture, I wonder how many leaders will be tempted to ditch Google’s old artefacts and embrace their new ones, while continuing being culture copycats.
When looking to another company, even your former employer, for inspiration, take an investigative look to understand the assumption behind their values, rituals and artefacts. It is too easy to copy what we find by “googling” somebody else. This desktop research gives an incomplete picture.
Better yet is to actually understand and state your own assumptions. Then you can build a culture that is right for your company.
The writer is a leadership adviser and author of ‘10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East’. Follow him on Twitter: @tommyweir.
