The Internet Century has shifted power to consumers as barriers melt away. Individuals and small teams now have a massive impact inside companies. Smart creatives - those with technical know-how, business expertise and creativity - can do amazing things incredibly fast. Google succeeds by attracting smart creatives and letting them thrive. To get ahead, better attract and empower smart creatives through culture, strategy, decisions, communication and innovation. Build around those with the greatest impact. The era needs self-driven creatives with hands-on technical skills, business savvy and creativity. They are comfortable with data, understand users, and ship quickly. Management must create an environment where they can thrive with interactions, resources, and autonomy. This attracts more smart creatives, fuelling innovation.
To attract brilliant, creative individuals, an organization's culture must genuinely reflect the ideals it promotes. Employees need to truly believe in and embody the company's stated values, which should serve as a moral compass for everyone's actions. These values can't be empty slogans; they must be deeply ingrained principles. Smart, creative people place great importance on organizational culture, often valuing it more than their specific role, the industry they work in, or their compensation. To draw such talent, a company must foster a culture where people are committed to upholding its ideals. Consider Google's mission to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible," which empowers employees to tackle obstacles without needing permission. This culture of autonomy and problem-solving is what attracted the engineers who transformed a weekend project into Google's successful AdWords platform. Founders must intentionally shape their company's culture by reflecting on what they care about, believe in, and aspire to become, as well as how they want the company to act and make decisions. This process should involve the core creative team, not the PR department, to ensure the values are authentic. Once established, the culture needs to be consistently communicated and reinforced, with the vision being worthless unless it is actively upheld and rewarded. A well-defined culture attracts like-minded individuals, making the active cultivation of culture essential. Google's culture, for instance, is characterized by dense offices that foster energy and collaboration, with even executives forgoing private offices. Teams are not segregated by function, allowing for a communal work environment. Self-expression and innovation are valued, even if they lead to some messiness. Ideas are judged on their merit, not the suggester's status, and small, flat teams are the norm to avoid micromanagement. The company organizes around passionate individuals rather than function or tenure, and work-life balance is left to the individual's discretion. A "yes" culture prevails, where senior management encourages problem-solving initiatives. Social events, a casual dress code, and the "Don't be evil" mantra further contribute to an environment that attracts creative minds. In essence, culture is not an afterthought but a key element that founders must actively define and cultivate to attract and retain individuals who share the company's values, guiding decisions at all levels.
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