Retaining Culture While You Scale Is All About Values

When a business grows, it’s difficult to retain culture. It seems the more people that come on board, the more diluted the culture can become, and eventually, you might lose the plot entirely. To maintain culture at scale, it’s important to realize that your company values are critically important. Nail down what you want your defining values to be, and let them guide you. Communicate them often. Use them as guideposts. Everything about your personhood should resonate with these core values. Not exactly sure how to determine what your values are? Start by asking some questions. What do you do every day? What do you want to be known for? What makes you proud about this work? How do colleagues interact with each other, and how do you work with customers? While teasing out these answers, you’ll likely discover patterns—identify those, and encapsulate them. These are your nonnegotiable values, and every decision you make should strengthen them.