The Foundation of Culture is Mindset Not Values

The Holy Book says that two people cannot walk together except if they are in agreement. In other words, except they find a common ground from which to operate from. This simply signifies having the same mindset. Values don’ really matter except there is an agreement on it.

I once had a business partner who was incredibly aligned with me on certain values. But guess what? Our challenges weren’t value-based. They were mindsets. We were not agreed on other things and that cause us our partnership. We each have a different direction we want the business to go.

?The fundamental mindset that makes a culture must be agreed to by each partner. If not they won’t trust each other and will pull their company apart. Go research every major division among partners and you can trace it to a lack of alignment in mindset. When two or more people are in agreement, they create a mastermind that makes what they are doing impossible to fail.

A set of people agreed had one mindset to build a tower that will reach the heavens. Their vision may have sounded farfetched to others when they started. But as they continued in agreement, they were getting great results. God saw that they were unrelenting, united in their goal and resilient; He had to change their mindset thereby breaking their agreement.

How was He able to change their mindset? He changed their language. Now, these people may have different values they live by. But their minds are united on a single purpose: to build a tower that will reach heaven.

In a company, the people need to be united on the purpose of the business. Everyone who joined needs to agree with the impossible future the company wants to create. There must be an agreement on the reason why the company exists. And people should be really able to live and exemplify the why. That makes the company a formidable one.

We believe in people, purpose, and performance. When people have one mindset around a purpose that inspires them, they will unleash their potential to perform in an extraordinary way. A Truly Human Company starts with an agreement on why the company exists.

When you join Apple, you have to agree with the fact that they exist to enrich lives,. It should be how you live even before you get to Apple. This is why Apple attracts people who have a similar purposes like them because work should enhance people’s purpose.

While having a discussion with Karen Zeigler, she mentioned that we should never start a business because we want to make money or have money pressure. A mindset set of making money isn’t transcending. Instead of building a company that is truly human, we will end up building one that manipulates and uses people rather than inspires them with a purpose.

Culture-fit should not be about the values and behaviors you decided everyone is going to live by, it’s about people agreeing with the purpose for which your organization exists and the cause you are advancing in the world. The purpose of your company should be human-centered. When you start a business, you need to test the culture especially among the founders to know if you have a similar mindset.

When you are agreed on a purpose, people become altruistic. Purpose makes us forget ourselves and make us focus on others. That is what makes the company truly human. A purpose that is centered around people and about making life better for people, enriching their lives and giving them a meaningful life is a high purpose. It transcends time. Values and behaviors are immaterial if we don’t have a similar mindset (agree on purpose).

Tesla attracts people by stating its purpose. If you agree with their purpose and want to join them in advancing their cause, you can be part of them. When people are agreed on a purpose that is transcending their work and lives become intentional and meaningful. You don’t have to motivate people when you have a human-centered culture. They are constantly inspired. Inspired people are always motivated. They won’t need you to keep motivating them each day.

Agreeing on a people-centric purpose and a cause that seeks to make life better for people not only brings out our best but our humanity. It makes us stop focusing on ourselves and focus on others. When I am self-preserving and protective, then I am not in agreement with the purpose. When our mindsets are built around a higher purpose, we become abundant-minded, collaborative, creative, and growth-oriented.

The greatest feats on earth were done by people who agreed on a purpose that seeks to make life better for others: Apple, Tesla, Google, South Airlines, Barry-Wehmiller, Whole Foods. Such a company exists for people not for itself or the profit it will make. We help organizations design a human-centered culture not because we want to make a profit or help them make more but to help them create a purpose that gives people meaning at work and inspires them to perform at their peak.

Human ingenuity, which is unlimited, can only be cultivated and unleashed by a higher purpose. We want a world where people are humans. We want a world where people are selfless and care for others. We want a world where people focus on how to add value to others not how to take from them. We want a world populated by humans who are focused on building a better world from everyone.

It starts with organizations having a purpose that is focused on making life better for people and a cause that is bigger than life. Using your purpose to advertise a position attracts people with a similar mindset. If you attract people based on your purpose, you will have people who want to build “cathedrals”. However, if you use the benefit of working with you, you will attract people who make and carry “blocks”. You can use our Signature Culture Design Process to create a culture that brings people with like mindset to your organization.