KAPOST CULTURE JULY 2013
THIS DOCUMENT OUTLINES THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH KAPOST OPERATES AND BY WHICH ALL OF US INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER
IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS: WE ARE ALWAYS REFINING IT IS ALSO ASPIRATIONAL: WE STRIVE FOR IT, BUT RECOGNIZE WE DON’T ALWAYS ACHIEVE IT
BUT WHILE IT’S ASPIRATIONAL, EVERY ONE OF US CAN HOLD EVERY ONE OF US ACCOUNTABLE TO THESE PRINCIPLES
KAPOST CULTURAL VALUES 1. WE TAKE OUR JOBS VERY SERIOUSLY 2. . . . BUT WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES SO SERIOUSLY 3. NO JERKS 4. WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON 5. WE ARE ALL RUNNING BACKS 6. . . . IN FACT, WE’RE ALL-STAR RUNNING BACKS 7. WE EVALUATE BY RESULTS 8. WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCEED 9. WE’RE MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
WE TAKE OUR JOBS VERY SERIOUSLY
WE ARE DEAD COMMITTED TO OUR OBJECTIVES: MAKING OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL GROWING THE BUSINESS AND DRIVING RETURNS FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS
OUR DETERMINATION AND ENTHUSIASM ARE WHAT MAKE US WIN OUR DEDICATION IS OUR MAJOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
. . . BUT WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES
SO SERIOUSLY
THOUGH WE’RE VERY DETERMINED, WE DON’T WALK AROUND WITH A SCOWL ON OUR FACE ALL DAY
IN FACT, WE THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO PASS OUR WORK DAYS WITH A SMILE ON OUR FACE SO WHILE WE GO ABOUT KICKING ASS, WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF FUN
ENJOYING OURSELVES AT WORK IS HOW WE WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES ENJOYING OURSELVES AND TREATING EACH OTHER WELL (SEE “NO JERKS”) ALSO MAKES US A MORE EFFECTIVE COMPANY: IF WE CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, WE CARE ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THUS ARE MORE DEDICATED
MUCH OF THAT FUN COMES FROM ENJOYING EACH OTHER WE VALUE COLLEAGUES WHO BRING FUN AND LAUGHTER TO THE TEAM
NO JERKS
EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS NOT GOING TO BE BEST BUDS WITH EVERYONE ELSE
BUT EVERYONE NEEDS TO TREAT EVERYONE WITH RESPECT, KINDNESS AND INTEGRITY
JERKS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S
GOING ON
EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS DEDICATED TO ITS SUCCESS (SEE EARLIER SECTIONS)
BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY BE DEDICATED, YOU CAN’T REALLY CARE, IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON
FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN’T DO YOUR JOB TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT’S GOING ON (ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT COMMAND & CONTROL, WE WANT “RUNNING BACKS”; SEE LATER SECTION)
THEREFORE, WE ARE VERY TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMPANY: GOALS, FINANCIALS, STRATEGY, FUNDRAISING, ETC.
IF THERE’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT ISN’T CONVEYED, THEN ASK THERE ARE NO TABOO QUESTIONS
. . . BUT NOT EVERY QUESTION WILL BE ANSWERED THERE ARE LIMITS: E.G., LEGALLY CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, PRIVATE COMPENSATION DATA
WE ARE RUNNING
BACKS
WE ARE RUNNING BACKS WE ARE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE BALL AND RUN WITH IT
WE THINK WORK IS MOST REWARDING WHEN YOU FIGURE THINGS OUT YOURSELF WHEN YOU OVERCOME CHALLENGES WITHOUT INSTRUCTIONS WHEN YOU TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND GET THE JOB DONE
WHEN YOU ARE—IN A WORD— CREATIVE
WE ALSO THINK THAT COMPANIES’ SUCCESS IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR RUNNING BACKS IN OTHER WORDS, A COMPANY WINS IF ITS EMPLOYEES ARE TAKING OWNERSHIP AND MAKING THINGS HAPPEN
THEREFORE, WE WANT EVERYONE IN OUR COMPANY TO BE A RUNNING BACK
AND WE WANT TO CLEAR THE WAY SO THAT EVERYONE CAN BE A RUNNING BACK: MINIMIZE BUREAUCRACY, MINIMIZE MEETINGS, MAXIMIZE AUTONOMY
. . . IN FACT WE’RE ALL –
STAR RUNNING BACKS
WE WANT EVERYONE AT KAPOST TO BE SUPERBLY QUALIFIED FOR THEIR ROLE, AN ALL-STAR AT THEIR JOB ALL-STARS DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, AND START-UPS WIN BY CONSISTENTLY BEING EXTRAORDINARY
FURTHERMORE, THERE’S AN ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMIC BEHIND OUR FOCUS ON ALL-STARS . . .
AS ORGANIZATIONS GROW, COMPLEXITY GROWS EXPONENTIALLY COMPLEXITY LEADS TO PROCESS PROCESS STIFLES INNOVATION, TURNS OFF ALL-STARS, SLOWS GROWTH, CAN RUIN A COMPANY
FOCUSING ON ALL-STARS CREATES TALENT DENSITY TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS ORG GROWTH & THUS COMPLEXITY TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS PROCESS (ALLOWS FOR MORE AUTONOMY) AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: YOU CAN BE AN ALL-STAR FOR YOUR ROLE AT MANY POINTS IN YOUR CAREER PATH
WE EVALUATE BY RESULTS
ALL-STARS WANT TO SUCCEED THE COMPANY WANTS TO SUCCEED IT IS THE OBLIGATION OF EVERY MANAGER TO DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS IS FOR EVERY ONE OF THEIR REPORTS
SUCCESS IS NOT DEFINED BY FACE TIME SUCCESS IS DEFINED BY AN OUTCOME, WHICH IS HOPEFULLY CLEARLY MEASURED BY A NUMBER
THUS WHAT THE COMPANY CARES ABOUT IS THAT YOU ACHIEVE YOUR OBJECTIVES THE COMPANY DOESN’T CARE WHERE OR WHEN YOU DO THAT
AS A RESULT: IF YOU NEED TO WORK FROM HOME, TO GO TO CHILD’S EVENT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY, ETC. . . . THE COMPANY IS COOL WITH THAT, AS LONG AS YOU MEET YOUR OBJECTIVES
ALSO AS A RESULT: IF YOU ARE MEETING YOUR OBJECTIVES AND WANT TO TAKE >3 WEEKS OF VACATION, THE COMPANY IS ALSO COOL WITH THAT
SOME KEY POINTS HERE #1 - TALK WITH YOUR MANAGER: MAKE SURE YOUR MANAGER APPROVES EXTRA VACATION TIME, ETC. AND THAT BOTH OF YOU ARE ON THE SAME PAGE ON WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO YOUR OBJECTIVES
#2 – MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN HUMANS INTERACT IN PERSON: WHILE WORKING FROM HOME, REMOTELY, ETC. WHEN NEEDED IS COOL, COLLABORATION IS ENHANCED BY FACE-TO-FACE AGAIN, TALK TO YOUR MANAGER ABOUT THE RIGHT BALANCE
WE SUCCEED AS OUR
CUSTOMERS SUCCEED
A GROWING BUSINESS CAN GET TO BE REALLY COMPLEX BUT HERE’S A SIMPLE THOUGHT TO STEER OUR WAY: WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCEED
IF THROUGH ALL OF OUR EFFORTS—IN ALL DEPARTMENTS—WE STAY FOCUSED ON MAKING OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL, THEN WE’LL BE SUCCESSFUL USE THIS PRINCIPLE AS A GUIDE IN DECISION-MAKING
FURTHERMORE, LET’S NEVER HESITATE TO GO OVERBOARD IN SERVING OUR CUSTOMERS LET’S CONSISTENTLY GO THE EXTRA MILE SO THAT WE DELIGHT THEM
WE’RE MAKING THE
WORLD A BETTER PLACE
KAPOST MISSION: TO EMPOWER MARKETERS TO TRANSFORM MARKETING FROM INTERRUPTING AND ANNOYING THEIR BUYERS TO INFORMING AND ENTERTAINING THEM
CONTENT MARKETING IS MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE KAPOST IS A MAJOR DRIVER OF THE CONTENT MARKETING REVOLUTION WE FEEL FORTUNATE TO WORK AT A COMPANY MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THIS DOCUMENT UTILIZES THE THINKING OF MANY OTHERS, IN PARTICULAR:
NETFLIX CULTURE DOCUMENT: HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/REED2001/CULTURE-1798664 HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE: HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/HUBSPOT/THE-HUBSPOT-CULTURE-CODE-CREATING-A-COMPANY-WE-LOVE