2020 Vision: Creating a Mission Driven Culture Code

Everyone wants to belong somewhere. They want to be part of the team and to be able to contribute to life in meaningful ways. This is true for life and for business. 

Having started in the Internet business in the mid-1990s, I felt like I belonged to something big, even if my contributions were just drops in the immense Internet ocean. During my years working as a business partner with companies the likes of Google, Adobe, Salesforce, and HubSpot among others, I was always impressed by the cultures they created. While all were technology companies and they shared some common values, you could easily tell each one apart by their cultures.  

When I joined ADF Solutions I remember that what impressed me the most was the people. Sure the digital forensic technology was innovative and cool, but what really attracted me to the company was the culture. The ADF culture was unwritten, yet everyone seemed to know what it was. As we approached 2020, we thought it would be a great idea to document our culture. We knew that doing so would take time but that it would ultimately benefit everyone through increased communication internally and externally. We wanted to showcase our uniqueness and let the world know why ADF Solutions is a great place to work. 

We began by reflecting back on the history of the company and how we garnered success -- especially with how it related to the company culture. The exercise let us hold a mirror up to our business to determine what was great and what we should consider improving.  

Lots of great companies have created Culture Code documents over the years, but the company that really started this idea was Netflix. I learned about the Culture Code through my relationship with HubSpot having admired the company built by Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan. As we embarked on the project, we shared with our team members some examples of culture codes from Dell, Atlassian, Google, HubSpot and of course, Netflix. 

Next, we invited each team member to complete a Culture Code Questionnaire which we created to help us benchmark our current culture and share aspirations. We focused on the important role the Culture Code would play in how we communicate and interact with one another as well as how we interact with partners and customers. 

Once we had every team member’s submission, we drafted a slide deck, shared it for review and we edited and revised it until we were satisfied that it communicated our culture the way it is today and with the right vision for 2020 and beyond. 

When we bring on new employees the ADF Culture Code will be something that will help us communicate our culture to them before they join. The ADF Culture Code will help us attract solid candidates that will be a great fit, and it will also help keep all of the amazing aspects of our culture no matter how much we grow. 

I’m excited to share our #CultureCode with you: https://adfsolutions.com/culture-code

If you think you belong here at ADF, please reach out to us. We’re excited to meet you! 

#AllinForensics