Building a resilient digital culture
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.” Andy Bernard - The Office
Yesterday, I ran a workshop for a great digital workplace. They are about 45 people, and have been 100% remote since their founding. They are doing nearly everything right, and having fun doing it. Their culture is strong and thick–like that feeling of having honey all over your fingers (in a good way).
But they are also in a high growth stage and expect to triple their size in the next 18 months. Their greatest challenge is to not be pining for the good old days in 2023.
After evaluating their own digital workplace along the five core systems, they discussed these questions in small groups:
- What are some natural challenges that will change our culture as we get larger?
- How can we build “room to grow” in our current systems?
- What is something we will vigorously defend, and what is something that we can be flexible on?
- How will doubling the number of people on the team make our culture more exciting? What are you looking forward to?
(Message me if you want to see the template with the evaluation and these questions.)
Seeing their responses to these questions was eye-opening. There was a lot they wanted to defend. But, there was some pre-nostalgia setting in as they reflected on ways they might need to adapt.
The CEO of the company pointed out that even if these changes were tough, it was better to face them intentionally than react to problems after they emerged.
When you think about your own company culture, are you living before, during, or after ‘the good old days’? What are ways you can build resilience now so that you can survive future changes?
Resiliency is good, but it’s not only about how you endured the past. It’s also about what’s yet to come.