We’re all remote.
One day, I was checking updates in Basecamp from my team.
I saw a comment that caught my attention. It was from Crystal, who was working on research.
Her comment wasn’t specifically related to what she was working on, but she wanted to share because she thought it could be useful.
It was a resource that could be a great place to share our articles for entrepreneurs.
I have seen this behavior from my team many times over the years and I am grateful for it.
What am I grateful for, specifically?
I am grateful for my team’s openness in sharing ideas, thoughts, and opinions, on what they think.
It’s about going above and beyond than what is asked.
It’s about following that instinct and sharing openly.
Some ideas that have been shared result in saving us time so that we can operate more efficiently and effectively as a team. Some ideas shape the way we work and affect outcome. Or, some ideas help us progress together.
And I’m grateful for that.
It’s about understanding human beings
Daniel Pink has written about what drives people in his book, “To Sell Is Human.” Spoiler alert: The three motivating factors are autonomy, purpose, and mastery.
On my team, we have flexible schedules (unless we need to chat live about something). Our purpose is to share our beliefs around the human experience (HX) through writing, photos, videos, presentations, and more (lots of valuable content in the pipeline). Each person on the team is a master of their craft.
But there is more to people for an innovative culture.
I’ve written about transparency before.
Vulnerability researcher, Brené Brown, shares a lot about vulnerability. She would say that vulnerability is uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. She would say that vulnerability is the foundation of creativity, innovation, and change.
I agree with her.
What prevents business from change and innovation
One word: fear.
I’ve written about how entrepreneurs should lead to strengthen legacy.
If you can’t shoulder the uncertainty as an entrepreneur, and if you don’t have ways to cope with the uncertainty, fear will get in the way.
That fear results in over-controlling behaviors, irrational decisions, poor delegation, addictive tendencies, lack of clarity, and more detrimental characteristics.
The entrepreneur lays the foundation of the culture.
The culture is not simply about what people say or values on a poster.
The culture of a business is defined by what the CEO does.
It’s the non-verbal cues and indicators.
It’s the thing that the CEO embodies.
The point?
Mastering your psychology so that the team feels your energy is what lays the cultural foundation.
When the team is afraid, they’re not going to openly share. They fear criticism, public humility, or worse, losing their job. This basic human instinct is powerful.
Fear is contagious.
This is not fluff. In psychology, it’s called alarm pheromones. It’s the chemical that different species produce to warn members of the same species of impending danger. It’s a survival mechanism.
The survival center of the brain, or the fight or flight center, is the amygdala. When the amygdala is overstimulated with fear, it consumes us.
Innovative cultures know how to transcend fear.
How to create a culture of change and innovation
Per Brené Brown’s advice, the answer is to embrace vulnerability.
Lean into the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.
This begins at the top of the business. The CEO.
That sounds nice, but what does it actually mean?
Here are 10 ways to create an innovative and adaptive culture.
1. Be vulnerable.
Many CEOs feel they have to shoulder everything. The team never knows about their weaknesses. They never know about all the uncertainty. They never know what the CEO is dealing with.
On some level, this is ok, people want to be led and they want to feel safe. However, there is a balance. A great CEO knows when to embrace vulnerability and share a story that humanizes them. Surrendering to your humanity, and communicating your humanness, helps people feel safe. Such transparency from the top results in safety which helps to cultivate trust.
If you can be honest and candid, you indirectly give people on your team permission to do the same. There is a time to lead confidently and a time to be candid. Demonstrate the behavior you want.
When you know how to tactfully embrace vulnerability, you can begin to expect it from others, too. Verbally communicate your expectations.
Many businesses prefer to say "transparency" instead of "vulnerability," although it’s very similar.
2. Schedule vulnerability.
I have a monthly check-in with my team on the first Tuesday every month. I ask these 3 questions:
A) How has this past month been for you?
This gives the team permission to share whatever is on their mind. It creates a safe space for the team to reveal their world.
B) Is there anything I can be doing differently?
When I ask this question, I often preface it with things I’m working on. For example, I’m currently working on sharing advice/my thoughts only if asked (as opposed to always sharing, pending context).
C) Are you happy?
This is important because it reflects in our work.
Pair these questions with occasional team updates from me on where we’re at and what I’m working on and I’ve had many meaningful discussions.
3. Hire the right people.
Startups are a unique breed. They require a certain person who can handle rapid change. It requires someone who is comfortable in their skin enough to be transparent and openly share their thoughts. Different thoughts from different people spark different innovative ideas. Find people who fit the startup mold.
For example, someone coming from certainty in the corporate world won’t last a day in an ever-changing startup environment.
I like to hear personal stories of how someone embraces change when hiring.
4. Focus on your psychology.
How is your self-trust? Do you communicate confidence, calmness, and safety, with your team? Or are you sharing your anxiety through your actions (spoken and unspoken)? (Anxiety has roots in fear)
In addition to the CEO focused on optimizing their psychology, so should co-founders or partners (if applicable).
I’ve written before about mastering your psychology and optimizing your mind.
Slow down to reflect on your psychology. Meditate, go for a slow walk, sit in nature.
Attaching and detaching from your business is a delicate balance often forgotten when focus is on execution.
5. Listen.
Note: I did not say hear. Hearing is understanding audible sounds being made by another human.
Listening is truly connecting.
It’s natural to get caught up in the business hype. It’s not easy to slow down.
Listening requires slowing down. It requires empathy. I'm talking about emotional intelligence. EQ, not IQ.
When you can affirm your team that you listen and understand them, it’ll encourage sharing. Acknowledge what your team is saying.
Make everyone feel included in the vision.
6. Embrace experimentation.
To embrace this, you must communicate it from the mountain top.
Publicly affirm the person who experiments. It’s not so much about the success or the failure, it’s about the experiment.
Experiments detach us from the outcome. When you speak, remind others that they are not their ideas. People who attach their identity with their ideas create friction for innovation. (Who wants to identify as a failure?)
More than outcome, value progress.
Experimentation can create a pivot that changes the foundation of a business.
7. Accept the objective reality.
Accept that the business could succeed. Or it could fail. Don’t stress about it or use it to provoke fear, only acknowledge the real reality. If failure is the most likely outcome, it must be proactively fought.
Share candid stories with your team of what you’re doing to make it work out. Openly ask for candid feedback.
The more objective you can be, the clearer you’ll be able to see.
This is a practice.
8. Make everything a game.
Embrace a sense of playfulness.
When I have a candid conversation with someone on my team, I often remind them... it’s all a game. Some levels we pass, some we have to repeat. Always be leveling up.
Creating a game out of everything helps people detach from their ideas.
Our internal team handbook is written within the context of this game.
How do you communicate the game?
Laugh about it.
9. Live inside out.
Think about it.
Innovators embrace their inner creativity. As a CEO, you identified a problem and executed against a solution.
This process was born from within and became a reality. It started with conviction.
In the same way, an internal culture breeds ideas that get filtered to experiments that may become a reality.
A business is like a human being. First, ideas are born within the mind. Secondly, ideas are born within the team. A strong culture acts like a powerful brain.
An innovative culture knows how to embrace ideas.
10. Respect the culture.
If a home on the side of a mountain has a weak foundation, be concerned.
A weak foundation is unfit for living.
It’s not safe.
It’s not sustainable.
It could create dangerous results.
Understand that a strong culture is like the foundation of a home.
Create that.
Do you value culture and want to strengthen yours? Learn about our introspective experience.
