What the Golden State Warriors Can Teach Us About Building and Sustaining Effective Organizational Culture

Organizational culture and leadership have always fascinated me. They often go hand-in-hand, as they should, but they also play an outsized role in a firm's success, and the day-to-day experience of employees. At the same time, as a San Jose, CA native, I've pretty much been obsessed with Bay Area sports teams since I was a kid, with the majority of my attention (and for years, futile hopes) landing upon the Golden State Warriors.

A couple years ago during graduate school, I had the chance to bring these worlds together for a course I took on "Organizational Design, Culture and Change." My charge was to analyze the culture of an organization of my choosing, and I chose the Warriors. The Warriors were in the middle of their unprecedented 73-win season, and based on the ridiculous amount of Warriors press I was reading--as well my mental accounting of how franchise leadership compared to the sports world at large, both front office executives and the players--it just struck me how healthy and normal their operations seemed to be. So, I carried out a deep dive literature review (err, sports page review) about the team, and came out the other side with some pretty cool findings on what their culture is, who creates it, and how it's integrated and upheld.

With the NBA Finals kicking off tonight, the Warriors and Cavs back it at for the fourth year in a row, I thought some of my friends, both NBA fanatics and culture/leadership geeks alike, might find it a fun read. The paper (below) is two years old, and much has changed in that time, but I think there's still much to glean from the observations, both about the Warriors--and for business in general.

The Warriors have clearly been up and down this year, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle the Finals, and if their culture is something they can go back to--for focus, for strength, for cohesion.

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Introduction

Boos. Heckling. Vitriol.

They’re hardly the words one would associate with today’s highly lauded and highly successful Golden State Warriors. But on the evening of March 19th, 2012, that was exactly the case.

For on that night, Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob was brutally booed by Warriors fans. The incident happened as he attempted to speak at the jersey retirement ceremony of long-time Warriors player and fan favorite Chris Mullin, a staple of the organization’s 1980’s and 1990’s teams. What was designed to be a proud moment for Mullin, the franchise and its fans—not to mention a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the Warriors—had quickly turned south. As Lacob began his remarks, boos rained down, merciless and heavy, creating the kind of awkward moment that was sure to live in infamy on YouTube.

The reason for the fan vitriol was no mystery, of course. In the words of NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin, the combination of yet another losing season—the Warriors 16th out the past 18 seasons—and the recent trade of Monta Ellis, thought to be the Warriors best player at the time, “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.[1]”

Looking back to this painful moment for the franchise—contextualized by the Warriors’ nearly two decades of futility that preceded it—the success of the present team, just four short years later, appears that much more remarkable—and that much more worthy of examination.

Secret of the Warriors’ Success: A Dynamic and Effective Culture

Over the past two years, numerous sports analysts have written countless “think pieces” to pinpoint the secret to the Warriors’ success. To many, the most obvious is the emergence and unprecedented talent of point guard Stephen Curry, who averaged 29.9 points and set the single season NBA mark for made three-pointers (400, in total) on his way to claiming his second consecutive MVP award, the second of which was a unanimous selection—another NBA-first by Curry. Other common conclusions have included the Warriors’ defensive versatility, with five to six players who can each guard two to three positions; the team’s ability to exploit the “market inefficiency” of the three-point line; and a high degree of emphasis on ball movement and passing, validated by the Warriors leading the league in assists per game[2].

As appropriate and relevant as all those factors might be, this paper will make the case that the “secret sauce” to the Warriors success might not be a single person, a shot, or a defensive scheme, but rather, a dynamic and effective organizational culture—one that is marked by trust and camaraderie, collaboration and selflessness, and pure and simple fun.

The Cultural Markers that Define the Warriors

While understanding organizational culture can sometimes be a nebulous (albeit fun) endeavor, we can start to unpack and understand culture by applying the work of organizational psychologist Ed Schein, who advocated for a three-tiered hierarchy to break down and draw insights from any culture. First, we look at artifacts, which be summarized as the things about an organization's culture we can plainly see and observe--how meetings are conducted, who is hired, how rewards and recognition are carried out, how collaboration and decision-making is handled, or what an organization states about itself. Second, we look at values, including the goals and strategies, philosophies and stated values, that guide an organization’s approach to its work, both internal and external. Finally, we can examine underlying assumptions, which are the deepest level of why organizations do what they do—unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, habits of perception, and thoughts and feelings, all of which are thought to be non-negotiable, and are often not overtly stated or explained[3]. In other words, they're the deepest layer of the onion.

While there are sure to be others, my analysis of the Golden State Warriors indicates five specific cultural values, each with its own set of artifacts and evidence, and the various ways that the Warriors are building and sustaining these values. Surely these cultural markers have not originated with the Warriors, as many other organizations have employed them to great effect, in a range of industries. Rather, the Warriors’ unique genius has been in the execution, “practicing what they preach,” and the reinforcement of values by top leadership within the organization. They are as follows:

1) A High Degree of Trust: When Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took the reins of the team in June of 2014, his first order of business was quite impressive—the newly minted coach made plans to visit every player on the team, including a flight all the way to Australia to visit Warriors center Andrew Bogut[4]. For Kerr, the gesture was all about establishing openness and transparency[5]. In the words of Stephen Gilliland, professor at the Eller College of Management at University of Arizona—Kerr’s alma mater—Kerr’s player visits “…instantly made it less about him. Great leaders get to know each of their reports as individuals.[6]” To some, this approach might seem logical and obvious for a basketball coach, especially with a much smaller roster compared to say a football team. And in college sports, personal visits very well might be the norm. But in the professional realm, with sky-high egos, salaries, and hard opinions on how things should be done, such an approach is more likely the exception—and not the rule.

Laying a foundation of trust and personal interest in his players paid nearly immediate dividends for Kerr. At the start of the 2014-15 season, sensing a need to shore up the Warriors bench unit with veteran leadership, Kerr asked shooting guard Andre Iguodala—a starter on his previous NBA teams, and one-time All-Star—to play off the bench as the team’s “sixth man.” Whatever his private feelings on the matter might have been, Iguodala graciously accepted and executed the role throughout the season. If we fast forward to the 2015 NBA Finals, Iguodala was not only instrumental in the team winning the championship, but was named the 2015 Finals Most Valuable Player, a remarkable outcome for a player relegated to a role position just nine months before. Surely Kerr’s emphasis on trust-building factors heavily into the Iguodala matter—from the coach’s “chutzpa” to make such a request, Iguodala’s willingness to accept it, all the way down to other players trusting Kerr on other decisions, because they’ve seen the wisdom of his choices before, and feel he has their best interest in mind. 

As Kerr himself expressed in an Arizona Alumni Magazine interview, “It’s important as a player to know that you have a coach who cares about you…Relationships are the key to any move you make, particularly when you ask someone to sacrifice for the good of the team. In the NBA, playing time leads to stats leads to a contract leads to security for your family. There’s a lot at stake, and it’s hard to ask someone to take a step back. The only way you can do that is if you know them well.[7]”

2) Selflessness: Previously, I touched upon a key artifact of Warriors culture: both this season and last, the team lead the NBA in total team assists per game. To play in such a manner is an obvious ideal for an NBA team; the ball moves faster than the defender, so if you rapidly move the players—and the ball—you create better opportunities, and better shots. Yet, the Warriors have mastered this approach to almost unprecedented levels. How, exactly? In the paradigm of another, organizational psychologist, Charles O’Reilly, Kerr and his coaching staff have been able to achieve this aspect of team culture largely through both engineering and reinforcement[8]. In other words, Kerr gets Warriors players to buy into the idea of selfless play—giving up a good opportunity (personal sacrifice) for what is often a better one (collective gain). Critical to this group participation, of course, was Kerr’s initial and ongoing efforts to build trust. If you trust your coach, and feel he has yours—and the team’s—best interests in mind, it makes it a lot easier to get on board with a system that is less about “you,” and more about “we.”

This emphasis on selflessness is a plainly observable artifact, on the one hand. Watching the Warriors, one can often witness two defenders collapse on Stephen Curry or shooting guard Klay Thompson, who will then kick the ball to the top of the court to small forward Draymond Green or another. Rather than immediately shooting, Green or another will immediately whip the ball to an even more open player, or drive towards the hoop, draw defenders and make a pass for a point-blank shot attempt by a teammate. On the other hand, the Warriors have also explicitly stated their emphasis on sacrifice and selflessness. Quite often, Kerr can be heard talking about the idea of the “hockey assist”—the pass that makes the pass, that creates the very best opportunity for the team. Jerry West, however, an NBA Hall-of-Famer and Warriors front office executive, might have distilled the team’s selfless philosophy even better. According to West, “Basketball is fun to play when you’re playing with a bunch of guys who are unselfish. Secondly, if you have a bunch of guys who not only are unselfish, but they love to play together, it makes it an easy game…One of the things that most people don’t pay attention to is how many people we have on our team [the Warriors] who can make creative passes. And being involved in the NBA for so long, this is one of the most unique teams I’ve ever seen…these people are so selfless.[9]”

3) Camaraderie and Fun: Team dinners. Group text messaging. Celebratory gestures on the court—and on the bench. Surely one of the hallmarks that set apart this Warriors team is their unabashed embrace of fun, and each other. For example, a Wall Street Journal report from 2015 points out that unlike most NBA teams, Warriors players regularly have meals together on road trips. Former assistant coach Alvin Gentry called this a “very rare” dynamic in his 26 years in the league, while former player David Lee expressed his belief that the continuity and camaraderie serves to make good teams better[10].

Along with team meals, the Warriors also achieve camaraderie by using group text messages—sometimes to organize meals, but also to stay motivated. As Warriors center Andrew Bogut explained in a Washington Post article, “We obviously see some headlines…And we’ll put it in the group chat. We’re not running away from it, or trying to hide from it. We actually like that (stuff), and we’re looking for different things to motivate us and fuel us along the way, along the journey…We don’t hide from any of that stuff, and we’re happy to put it out there.[11]”

While both players and coaches share and uphold this sense of fun and camaraderie, the efforts are largely led and reinforced by two individuals: star player Stephen Curry, and head coach Steve Kerr. On the court, Curry flashes big smiles, celebrates his successes (and his teammates), and plays with a gleefulness not likely seen since the glory days of Magic Johnson and the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers. It’s infectious, and the other players seem to follow his lead. As Slate’s Jack Hamilton put it “…at the risk of sounding corny, the Warriors feel like they play the game for the joy of playing, the winning coming as a happy byproduct of being so freakishly good at it. For anyone who loves basketball, they’re the best version of ourselves we’ve ever seen.[12]”   

If Curry is the embodiment of joyful playing, Kerr is his counterpart in the jokester category, a reputation that he cemented in 1997 at a Chicago Bulls championship ceremony, joking that before he (Kerr) made the series-clinching shot against the Utah Jazz, Michael Jordan pulled him aside and asked Kerr to bail him out—again[13]. Behind the scenes, away from televised games, Kerr creates a culture of fun by energizing players with rap music during shooting drills, and by livening up film sessions by “cutting embarrassing footage of players or assistant coaches into video.[14]” In the words of SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell “…while it will become trendy to copy his [Kerr’s] tactics and his in-game adjustments, it's the atmosphere he created around the team that was most important. Kerr didn't just empower his players on the court, he let them act their age and enjoy themselves off of it. NBA basketball might be a big business, but Kerr and the Warriors found success with the human element as much as any game plan.[15]”

4) A System of “Loose-Tight:” In certain business circles, when organizations aim for their employees to be tightly, highly aligned with centralized cultural values, but then give them autonomy and freedom in their day-to-day work, it is often called “Loose-Tight.” Consultants from McKinsey & Co. were among the first to define this approach, as outlined in the 1982 book In Search of Excellence[16]. In today’s economy, we continue to see this philosophy with numerous companies, but two in particular come to mind: the disposition of Amazon to give its white collar workers a wide range of freedom, so long as they make decisions by data, are fully committed, and constantly try to innovate[17]; and the “Freedom and Accountability” philosophy of Netflix, as laid out in their internet-famous “culture deck.[18]”

The Warriors, too, employ such a cultural philosophy. The “Tight” part for the Warriors, as previously touched on, revolves around selflessness. Kerr wants the Warriors to be tightly, highly aligned with sacrifice and selflessness, ball and player movement—giving up good opportunities for even better ones. And if the team does this, the “Loose” part becomes possible: watching the Warriors, Kerr rarely calls plays—often only on an in-bounds play, or at the end of a quarter or the game. As Warriors player Draymond Green explained to ESPN, “Sometimes we just freestyle a little bit, freestyle within what coach will allow us to do.[19]” For the Warriors, the proof seems to be in the pudding: one NBA championship last year, well-situated to make another title run this year, and a group of players who remain laser focused on breaking the Chicago Bulls’ record for regular season wins. 

5) Coordination and Collaboration: Finally, the Warriors organization—both the ownership and front office executives, who make personnel decisions, and the coaching staff, who lead the team—appears to place great cultural emphasis on coordination and group decision-making. In a feature on ESPN.com, reporter Ethan Sherwood Strauss explained their approach as follows: “For big decisions, the Warriors prefer a collective approach. The core figures are the Lacobs (Joe and Kirk), [General Manager Bob] Myers, assistant GM Travis Schlenk, Hall of Fame consultant Jerry West and now, head coach Steve Kerr. Although Joe Lacob has the final word and Myers has the authority to veto whatever his basketball operations team suggests, the plan is to canvass everyone for information. There's an almost monastic desire to subvert ego in this process.[20]”

Examining the backgrounds of General Manager (GM) Bob Meyers, and Head Coach Steve Kerr, we start to understand where this cultural value comes from. Prior to the Warriors, GM Bob Meyers was a collegiate player at UCLA, followed by working as a sports agent for many years. As such, he understands the greater eco-system of a basketball team, including what its like to be a player, the importance of team chemistry, and the unique demands of head coaches. By the same token, Kerr spent 10+ years in the NBA, followed by several years as a TV commentator, and then a stint as General Manager of the Phoenix Suns. Similar to Meyers’ ability to place himself in Kerr’s shoes, Kerr is one of the most media-savvy coaches in the league, and fully understands the demands of an NBA General Manager. Not to be forgotten is the background of owner Joe Lacob—a highly successful businessman in the world of start-ups and venture capital, where group decision-making and coordinating through conflict is a cultural norm. Between this shared value of coordination and collaboration, and each subculture’s ability to see things from the other’s perspective, the Warriors have a decision-making process that stands out as effective, normal and downright healthy—especially by the standard of most sports franchises and front office executives, where egos and passion rule the day.

When the rubber meets the road, how then do the Warriors actually navigate through difficult organizational decisions? Fortunately, there is a prominent scenario on the record—one that illustrates the Warriors’ values quite well. 

In the summer of 2014, with the Warriors coming off a strong season but disappointing first-round loss in the playoffs, a critical personnel choice presented itself: should the team trade current player Klay Thompson for free agent Kevin Love? Thompson, a rising star for the Warriors, was perceived as an excellent defender—key for the Warriors—and one of the game’s top three-point shooters. Love, on the other hand, was a highly regarded power forward, adept at rebounding, passing and three-point shooting. Both players had their pros and cons, and it was an extremely difficult call.

According to an ESPN report—which lays bare the complexities of the matter, and which I will quote at length here—the Warriors’ decision making “…looked rather foolish this past summer, when summer league was abuzz over how crazy Golden State was for overvaluing Thompson in trade talks for Kevin Love….Warriors management would prefer to portray the decision as one easily made, for obvious reasons, but there were people in the organization who wanted Love, for equally obvious reasons…West and Kerr were among the voices in favor of keeping Thompson, according to sources. When asked last week if he felt validated by the choice, Kerr said the organization should feel validated for its decision-making process.[21]”

The report continued that the Warriors’ “braintrust had to come together in the end, regardless of how they felt about the non-trade. Once a decision is final, it's shared. The core's ability to stay cohesive after tough choices matters more than any particular decision -- or so the thinking goes. ‘It's a completely free environment, but once a decision's been made, it's our decision,’ [Assistant GM] Schlenk said. ‘And that's what's most important, that everyone stays together collectively. Like, the people who were on one side of the Klay thing don't go around saying, ‘I told ya, I told ya.[22]’’”

Similar to some of the cases discussed in class—Amazon and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, for example—this example from the Warriors teaches us the value of multiple perspectives, using conflict and disagreement to find optimal outcomes, the importance of interpersonal skills in such a culture, and how the Warriors subcultures come together to make big decisions. Perhaps the more interesting point to ponder, however, is what consequences might arise if the Warriors violated their own cultural norms on a matter like this? For instance, if the team chose to trade to Thompson and the coaching staff was circumvented on the matter, what would that mean for long-term coordination and trust? By the same token, what consequences might crop up if those on the “losing side” of the trade argument had the outcome constantly rubbed in their face? It becomes quite clear that while not the end-goal in itself, honoring culture is critical in terms of how any organization gets there—wherever they’re going.

Conclusion

While no one can discount the luck the Warriors have experienced, nor how the team has effectively leveraged purely basketball elements—three-point shooting, ball and player movement, defensive switching, and of course, the next-level talent of Stephen Curry—the Warriors’ organizational culture seems to be creating a climate that is highly conducive to success in today’s NBA, led by Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry. More than anything, the single cultural value that stands out to me is the Warriors’ selflessness, which impacts how they play, how they make decisions, and how they build camaraderie and trust. As General Manager Bob Meyers is fond of saying—originally uttered by legendary UCLA coach John Wooden—“It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.[23]"

Sources

[1] Helin, K. (2012, March 20). Why did Warriors fans boo? Retrieved from https://nba.nbcsports.com/2012/03/20/why-did-warrior-fans-boo/

[2] NBA Team Assists Per Game. (2016, April 11). Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/assists-per-game

 [3] Schein, E. H. (1985). Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

[4] Warriors Kerr Flying to Australia to Meet With Bogut. (2014, June 12). Retrieved from https://www.csnbayarea.com/warriors/warriors-kerr-flying-australia-meet-bogut

[5] Caroll, D. (2015, August/September). The Enlightened Coaching Style of Steve Kerr. Retrieved from https://arizonaalumni.com/article/enlightened-coaching-style-steve-kerr

 [6] Caroll, D. (2015, August/September). The Enlightened Coaching Style of Steve Kerr. Retrieved from https://arizonaalumni.com/article/enlightened-coaching-style-steve-kerr

[7] Caroll, D. (2015, August/September). The Enlightened Coaching Style of Steve Kerr. Retrieved from https://arizonaalumni.com/article/enlightened-coaching-style-steve-kerr

 [8] O'Reilly, C. (1989). Corporations, Culture, and Commitment: Motivation and Social Control in Organizations. California Management Review, 31.

[9] L, C. (2016, January 21). Creativity...and...Precision. Retrieved from https://blogs.mercurynews.com/warriors/2016/01/21/creativity/

 [10] Cohen, B. (2015, February 11). Golden State: The Team That Eats Together. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/golden-state-the-team-that-eats-together-1423682960

[11] Emert, J. (2015, December 12). Warriors use Group Message to Share Negative Stories. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/12/12/warriors-use-group-message-to-share-the-negative-stories/

 [12] Hamilton, J. (2015, November 30). Warrior Kings. Retrieved from https://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/11/steph_curry_s_warriors_are_playing_the_best_basketball_ever.html

 [13] Steve Kerr on His '97 NBA Finals Winning Shot. (2007, September 7). Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOCcd-iAljI

 [14] O'Donnell, R. (2015, June 17). Steve Kerr's Real Genius Was Letting the Warriors Have Fun. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/17/8794843/steve-kerr-warriors-fun-nba-finals-2015-tactics-coach

 [15] O'Donnell, R. (2015, June 17). Steve Kerr's Real Genius Was Letting the Warriors Have Fun. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/17/8794843/steve-kerr-warriors-fun-nba-finals-2015-tactics-coach

[16] McDonald, D. (2013). The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and its Secret Influence on American Business. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

[17] Kantor, J., & Streitfeld, D. (2015, August 16). Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace. The New York Times, p. A1.

[18] Stenovec, T. (2015, February 27). One Reason for Netflix' Success--It Treats Employees Like Grownups. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/netflix-culture-deck-success_n_6763716.html

 [19] Sherwood Strauss, E. (2015, February 4). How Warriors Built NBA's Top Defense. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12273986/how-golden-state-warriors-built-nba-best-defense

 [20] Sherwood Strauss, E. (2015, February 4). How Warriors Built NBA's Top Defense. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12273986/how-golden-state-warriors-built-nba-best-defense

 [21] Sherwood Strauss, E. (2015, February 4). How Warriors Built NBA's Top Defense. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12273986/how-golden-state-warriors-built-nba-best-defense

 [22] Sherwood Strauss, E. (2015, February 4). How Warriors Built NBA's Top Defense. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12273986/how-golden-state-warriors-built-nba-best-defense

[23] Harper, Z. (2015, June 17). Warriors' Bob Myers Patiently Built the Next Influential Team Model. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25216421/warriors-bob-myers-patiently-built-the-next-influential-team-model

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