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What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture
Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist, modern management expert, and New York Times bestselling author, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times.
Ben Horowitz has long been fascinated by history, and particularly by how people behave differently than you’d expect. The time and circumstances in which they were raised often shapes them—yet a few leaders have managed to shape their times. In What You Do Is Who You Are, he turns his attention to a question crucial to every organization: how do you create and sustain the culture you want?
To Horowitz, culture is how a company makes decisions. It is the set of assumptions employees use to resolve everyday problems: should I stay at the Red Roof Inn, or the Four Seasons? Should we discuss the color of this product for five minutes or thirty hours? If culture is not purposeful, it will be an accident or a mistake.
What You Do Is Who You Are explains how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building—the leader of the only successful slave revolt, Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, who ruled Japan for seven hundred years and shaped modern Japanese culture; Genghis Khan, who built the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, a man convicted of murder who ran the most formidable prison gang in the yard and ultimately transformed prison culture.
Horowitz connects these leadership examples to modern case-studies, including how Louverture’s cultural techniques were applied (or should have been) by Reed Hastings at Netflix, Travis Kalanick at Uber, and Hillary Clinton, and how Genghis Khan’s vision of cultural inclusiveness has parallels in the work of Don Thompson, the first African-American CEO of McDonalds, and of Maggie Wilderotter, the CEO who led Frontier Communications. Horowitz then offers guidance to help any company understand its own strategy and build a successful culture.
What You Do Is Who You Are is a journey through culture, from ancient to modern. Along the way, it answers a question fundamental to any organization: who are we? How do people talk about us when we’re not around? How do we treat our customers? Are we there for people in a pinch? Can we be trusted?
Who you are is not the values you list on the wall. It’s not what you say in company-wide meeting. It’s not your marketing campaign. It’s not even what you believe. Who you are is what you do. This book aims to help you do the things you need to become the kind of leader you want to be—and others want to follow.
Ben Horowitz has long been fascinated by history, and particularly by how people behave differently than you’d expect. The time and circumstances in which they were raised often shapes them—yet a few leaders have managed to shape their times. In What You Do Is Who You Are, he turns his attention to a question crucial to every organization: how do you create and sustain the culture you want?
To Horowitz, culture is how a company makes decisions. It is the set of assumptions employees use to resolve everyday problems: should I stay at the Red Roof Inn, or the Four Seasons? Should we discuss the color of this product for five minutes or thirty hours? If culture is not purposeful, it will be an accident or a mistake.
What You Do Is Who You Are explains how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building—the leader of the only successful slave revolt, Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, who ruled Japan for seven hundred years and shaped modern Japanese culture; Genghis Khan, who built the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, a man convicted of murder who ran the most formidable prison gang in the yard and ultimately transformed prison culture.
Horowitz connects these leadership examples to modern case-studies, including how Louverture’s cultural techniques were applied (or should have been) by Reed Hastings at Netflix, Travis Kalanick at Uber, and Hillary Clinton, and how Genghis Khan’s vision of cultural inclusiveness has parallels in the work of Don Thompson, the first African-American CEO of McDonalds, and of Maggie Wilderotter, the CEO who led Frontier Communications. Horowitz then offers guidance to help any company understand its own strategy and build a successful culture.
What You Do Is Who You Are is a journey through culture, from ancient to modern. Along the way, it answers a question fundamental to any organization: who are we? How do people talk about us when we’re not around? How do we treat our customers? Are we there for people in a pinch? Can we be trusted?
Who you are is not the values you list on the wall. It’s not what you say in company-wide meeting. It’s not your marketing campaign. It’s not even what you believe. Who you are is what you do. This book aims to help you do the things you need to become the kind of leader you want to be—and others want to follow.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
About the author
Ben Horowitz
24 books1,587 followersBen Horowitz is the cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs building the next generation of leading technology companies. The firm's investments include Airbnb, GitHub, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Previously, he was cofounder and CEO of Opsware, formerly Loudcloud, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007. Horowitz writes about his experiences and insights from his career as a computer science student, software engineer, cofounder, CEO, and investor in a blog that is read by nearly 10 million people. He has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the New Yorker, Fortune, the Economist, and Bloomberg Businessweek, among others. Horowitz lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Felicia.
Follow him on Twitter @bhorowitz and his blog, www.bhorowitz.com.
Follow him on Twitter @bhorowitz and his blog, www.bhorowitz.com.
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November 14, 2019
Lessons in Leadership Conservatism
In What You Do Is Who You Are, venture-capitalist and NYT best-selling author, Ben Horowitz, turns to history to teach CEOs and business leaders how they can shape and change the cultures of their companies. His first of four models is Toussaint Louverture, a military and political leader in the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804).
In the eighteenth century, sugar took over the economy of the western hemisphere and the heart of this exploitative system was France’s Caribbean colony, Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti). Occupying the western third of the second largest island in the Caribbean, the French violently forced enslaved Africans to plant, harvest, and process sugar cane.
Enslaved people resisted this oppressive system whenever they could, but punishments were severe and painful, often life-ending. In 1789, when France was in revolutionary turmoil, the disenfranchised free people of color in the Caribbean began breaking down the rigid hierarchy of the 18th century and called for equal rights as free Frenchmen. Enslaved people seized this opportunity to save themselves and eventually to overthrow the entire wretched system—this event has come to be known as the Haitian Revolution.
Horowitz is drawn to the Haitian Revolution because “the stamping out of slavery is one of humanity’s great stories. And the best story within that story is the Haitian Revolution.”
Horowitz argues that Toussaint Louverture’s leadership in the Haitian Revolution demonstrates that revolutionary cultural change is possible, even in the most extreme circumstances.
Horowitz draws seven business lessons from Toussaint Louverture’s strategy: keep what works, create shocking rules, dress for success, incorporate outside leadership, make decisions that demonstrate cultural priorities, walk the talk, and make ethics explicit. He then praises present-day business leaders who demonstrate these priorities.
The takeaway for leaders is that you can “make your own culture do what you want it to,” if you apply these lessons.
The bad news is that Horowitz’s analysis of the revolutionary change in Haiti is limited by his (mis)understanding of the lives of the enslaved people in colonial Haiti. “Slavery chokes the development of culture,” he argues, “by dehumanizing its subjects.” That was indeed the intent in many slavery societies, but enslaved people have never been culture-less. What Horowitz frames as revolutionary change is instead a cherry-picking of Louverture’s policies that, in fact, (in a modified version) maintained the status quo.
By denying the humanity of enslaved men and women, Horowitz then seeks to understand how Toussaint Louverture “reprogrammed slave culture.” In doing so, Horowitz taps into 19th century racist civilization discourse by arguing that Louverture “elevated their culture” to the level of French citizens. According to Horowitz, Louverture had successfully “transform[ed] slave culture into one respected around the world.”
The most grotesque example in the chapter “Toussaint Louverture Applied,” is Horowitz’s championing of the unique company culture at Amazon today that emphasizes “frugality.” Horowitz connects this with the lesson from Louverture that it’s important to create “shocking rules.” The shocking rule at Amazon is that no one is allowed to use a PowerPoint presentation.
Horowitz doesn’t analyze the diplomatic strategy or context of Louverture’s leadership, and neither does he discuss the effects of Amazon’s obsessiveness with frugality that set the stage for such horrific working conditions that one worker said created an “existential [****]hole.”
By transcending time and space and by distorting Louverture’s story so thoroughly, Horowitz is able to use the Haitian Revolution to champion a company known now for labor and human rights abuses for the benefit of the predatory leadership. This is the story you’d tell of the Haitian Revolution is you wanted to void it of its most revolutionary characteristics. In other words, Horowitz actually teaches about leadership conservatism in the face of popular transformations.
The good news is that the premise of Horowitz’s book is commendable; the past can and should suggest promising ways to question and shape the present. What, then, can we learn from the Haitian Revolution to help us address 21st century questions of leadership and company culture?
CEOs would do well to learn about the rank-and-file soldiers of the Haitian Revolution and the men and women who escaped into the woods to avoid French and Haitian rule. Leaders today could study the field workers who constantly resisted being forced back onto the plantations that they had just burned to the ground.
These men and women first changed the culture of the colony and then shaped that of the new country by relentlessly fighting for their vision of freedom—most explicitly seen in the “lakou” (the yard), a community-based social, familial, and economic way of life centered on subsistence farming and personal and social sovereignty.
The evidence of the Haitian Revolution suggests that leading cultural change depends on an integrated “top down” and “ground up” strategy that understands the existing culture rather than trying to “reprogram” it.
I would recommend that business leaders instead read books by Laurent Dubois, Jean Casimir, Marlene Daut, Hank Gonzalez, Carolyn Fick, Jean Fouchard, and other historians of the Haitian Revolution and the early independence period.
***
Julia Gaffield is associate professor of history at Georgia State University. She is author of Haitian Connections in the Atlantic World: Recognition after Revolution (UNC press 2015) and editor of The Haitian Declaration of Independence: Creation, Context, and Legacy (UVA Press 2016).
In What You Do Is Who You Are, venture-capitalist and NYT best-selling author, Ben Horowitz, turns to history to teach CEOs and business leaders how they can shape and change the cultures of their companies. His first of four models is Toussaint Louverture, a military and political leader in the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804).
In the eighteenth century, sugar took over the economy of the western hemisphere and the heart of this exploitative system was France’s Caribbean colony, Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti). Occupying the western third of the second largest island in the Caribbean, the French violently forced enslaved Africans to plant, harvest, and process sugar cane.
Enslaved people resisted this oppressive system whenever they could, but punishments were severe and painful, often life-ending. In 1789, when France was in revolutionary turmoil, the disenfranchised free people of color in the Caribbean began breaking down the rigid hierarchy of the 18th century and called for equal rights as free Frenchmen. Enslaved people seized this opportunity to save themselves and eventually to overthrow the entire wretched system—this event has come to be known as the Haitian Revolution.
Horowitz is drawn to the Haitian Revolution because “the stamping out of slavery is one of humanity’s great stories. And the best story within that story is the Haitian Revolution.”
Horowitz argues that Toussaint Louverture’s leadership in the Haitian Revolution demonstrates that revolutionary cultural change is possible, even in the most extreme circumstances.
Horowitz draws seven business lessons from Toussaint Louverture’s strategy: keep what works, create shocking rules, dress for success, incorporate outside leadership, make decisions that demonstrate cultural priorities, walk the talk, and make ethics explicit. He then praises present-day business leaders who demonstrate these priorities.
The takeaway for leaders is that you can “make your own culture do what you want it to,” if you apply these lessons.
The bad news is that Horowitz’s analysis of the revolutionary change in Haiti is limited by his (mis)understanding of the lives of the enslaved people in colonial Haiti. “Slavery chokes the development of culture,” he argues, “by dehumanizing its subjects.” That was indeed the intent in many slavery societies, but enslaved people have never been culture-less. What Horowitz frames as revolutionary change is instead a cherry-picking of Louverture’s policies that, in fact, (in a modified version) maintained the status quo.
By denying the humanity of enslaved men and women, Horowitz then seeks to understand how Toussaint Louverture “reprogrammed slave culture.” In doing so, Horowitz taps into 19th century racist civilization discourse by arguing that Louverture “elevated their culture” to the level of French citizens. According to Horowitz, Louverture had successfully “transform[ed] slave culture into one respected around the world.”
The most grotesque example in the chapter “Toussaint Louverture Applied,” is Horowitz’s championing of the unique company culture at Amazon today that emphasizes “frugality.” Horowitz connects this with the lesson from Louverture that it’s important to create “shocking rules.” The shocking rule at Amazon is that no one is allowed to use a PowerPoint presentation.
Horowitz doesn’t analyze the diplomatic strategy or context of Louverture’s leadership, and neither does he discuss the effects of Amazon’s obsessiveness with frugality that set the stage for such horrific working conditions that one worker said created an “existential [****]hole.”
By transcending time and space and by distorting Louverture’s story so thoroughly, Horowitz is able to use the Haitian Revolution to champion a company known now for labor and human rights abuses for the benefit of the predatory leadership. This is the story you’d tell of the Haitian Revolution is you wanted to void it of its most revolutionary characteristics. In other words, Horowitz actually teaches about leadership conservatism in the face of popular transformations.
The good news is that the premise of Horowitz’s book is commendable; the past can and should suggest promising ways to question and shape the present. What, then, can we learn from the Haitian Revolution to help us address 21st century questions of leadership and company culture?
CEOs would do well to learn about the rank-and-file soldiers of the Haitian Revolution and the men and women who escaped into the woods to avoid French and Haitian rule. Leaders today could study the field workers who constantly resisted being forced back onto the plantations that they had just burned to the ground.
These men and women first changed the culture of the colony and then shaped that of the new country by relentlessly fighting for their vision of freedom—most explicitly seen in the “lakou” (the yard), a community-based social, familial, and economic way of life centered on subsistence farming and personal and social sovereignty.
The evidence of the Haitian Revolution suggests that leading cultural change depends on an integrated “top down” and “ground up” strategy that understands the existing culture rather than trying to “reprogram” it.
I would recommend that business leaders instead read books by Laurent Dubois, Jean Casimir, Marlene Daut, Hank Gonzalez, Carolyn Fick, Jean Fouchard, and other historians of the Haitian Revolution and the early independence period.
***
Julia Gaffield is associate professor of history at Georgia State University. She is author of Haitian Connections in the Atlantic World: Recognition after Revolution (UNC press 2015) and editor of The Haitian Declaration of Independence: Creation, Context, and Legacy (UVA Press 2016).
January 29, 2020
After The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers, this book was a disappointment. Here’s a few reasons:
First - a large portion of this book could have been written by anyone. For reasons unclear, Horowitz brings examples mostly not from his own experience, but from history. Let’s remind ourselves that Horowitz is not a historian and it feels a lot like he has interpreted the stories, characters and their decisions to fit the points he’s trying to make.
Like the example with Toussaint Louverture - labeling this guy as a “culture genius” when his actions were not motivated by some deeper values, but mostly by what strategically worked the best to achieve his goals, is a little far-fetched. Same goes for a lot of the other examples - mostly these “acts of culture” seem to have been just strategic decisions, not driven by some Gandhi-like fundamental beliefs. He goes as far to point this out himself as well - that neither Louverture or Genghis Khan followed their own rules.
That’s the other thing - there’s a lot of contradictions in this book. You have to lead by example, but your own examples didn’t? You have to make sacrifices to keep the culture, but when Mark Cranney is an as*hole, the culture needs to adapt and Mark gets an office? “This some bul*shit” - many rappers.
At times it feels this book just aims to look cool - like the thing about making weird rules in your company so people would actually follow them. Or the bit with this magical job interview:
“What would you do if I punched you in the face right now?”
“Are you testing my intelligence or my courage?”
“Both”
“You better knock me out”
“You’re hired”
…Horowitz claims that this was all that was required to make sure Mark Cranney was a culture fit. Cool story bro, but… unless you’re completely winging it or telling this at a bar to impress some friends, it’s just plain bad advice.
After all this whining I have to say there were some solid parts in there as well, like the story about how the Sony-deal was turned down in order to not mess up the future, but mostly it was just same old, same old. The Amazon doors, the Apple story, the “go-fast-and-break-things” and basic principles that you’ve heard a thousand times before.
All that said, Horowitz's next book will still be on my reading list. Just hoping it will be based more on his own stories.
First - a large portion of this book could have been written by anyone. For reasons unclear, Horowitz brings examples mostly not from his own experience, but from history. Let’s remind ourselves that Horowitz is not a historian and it feels a lot like he has interpreted the stories, characters and their decisions to fit the points he’s trying to make.
Like the example with Toussaint Louverture - labeling this guy as a “culture genius” when his actions were not motivated by some deeper values, but mostly by what strategically worked the best to achieve his goals, is a little far-fetched. Same goes for a lot of the other examples - mostly these “acts of culture” seem to have been just strategic decisions, not driven by some Gandhi-like fundamental beliefs. He goes as far to point this out himself as well - that neither Louverture or Genghis Khan followed their own rules.
That’s the other thing - there’s a lot of contradictions in this book. You have to lead by example, but your own examples didn’t? You have to make sacrifices to keep the culture, but when Mark Cranney is an as*hole, the culture needs to adapt and Mark gets an office? “This some bul*shit” - many rappers.
At times it feels this book just aims to look cool - like the thing about making weird rules in your company so people would actually follow them. Or the bit with this magical job interview:
“What would you do if I punched you in the face right now?”
“Are you testing my intelligence or my courage?”
“Both”
“You better knock me out”
“You’re hired”
…Horowitz claims that this was all that was required to make sure Mark Cranney was a culture fit. Cool story bro, but… unless you’re completely winging it or telling this at a bar to impress some friends, it’s just plain bad advice.
After all this whining I have to say there were some solid parts in there as well, like the story about how the Sony-deal was turned down in order to not mess up the future, but mostly it was just same old, same old. The Amazon doors, the Apple story, the “go-fast-and-break-things” and basic principles that you’ve heard a thousand times before.
All that said, Horowitz's next book will still be on my reading list. Just hoping it will be based more on his own stories.
October 20, 2019
I've worked in Ben Horowitz designed cultures for decades (Netscape, Loudcloud, Opsware, Andreessen Horowitz). So it was fun & fascinating to go behind-the-scenes to understand his detailed thinking behind some of the decisions he made. Like "Hard Things About Hard Things", this book is practical and philosophical at the same time.
Culture is hard to design, it takes constant work to design and reinforce, it's subtle, it needs to be refreshed constantly. It's also often overlooked as startup CEOs often have their arms full trying to find product/market fit or raise the next round of financing or hire the next set of executives. But as Peter Drucker famously observed, "culture eats strategy for breakfast", so it's critical to design one explicitly. Bonus: find out how Ben both agrees and disagrees with Drucker's observation.
Culture is hard to design, it takes constant work to design and reinforce, it's subtle, it needs to be refreshed constantly. It's also often overlooked as startup CEOs often have their arms full trying to find product/market fit or raise the next round of financing or hire the next set of executives. But as Peter Drucker famously observed, "culture eats strategy for breakfast", so it's critical to design one explicitly. Bonus: find out how Ben both agrees and disagrees with Drucker's observation.
November 29, 2021
Culture is vital — and it’s unique to every flourishing company
Culturally, what you believe means nearly nothing. What you do is who you are
Leader's perspective on the culture isn’t relevant — that’s rarely what your people experience
The real question is what employees have to do to survive and succeed?
One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are — Steve Jobs
Startups who outsource engineering almost always fail
It’s easy to build an app or a website that meets the specification of some initial idea, but far more difficult to build something that will scale, evolve, handle edge cases gracefully
Culture begins with deciding what you value most
Culture means something in practice
Culture needs to be an expression of the business itself
Virtues are what you do. Values are what you believe
Values are worthless without actions
Bob Noyce, the co-founder of Intel — he provided the majority of his workers stock choices, and he sat everyone in one big room
Shock people and force them to ask why and must be something they encounter on a daily basis. This helps program the culture
Help people build discipline
When you are a leader, even your accidental actions set the culture
Emphasize the ‘why’ behind your values and the vision with every chance you get. That’s what gets remembered
Employees want to know that they matter, they’re making a difference, there’s meaningful work to be done, and they’re moving the bigger picture forward
If a culture can’t make quick decisions or has a void in leadership, it becomes defined by indifference
As a manager, the worst thing you can do is undermine decisions made above you — this creates cultural chaos, makes your team feel marginalized and powerless, and end result is apathy
It’s your job to understand the reasoning behind a decision, otherwise you have failed your team
Telling the truth isn’t natural. It requires courage. The easy thing to do is to tell someone what they want to hear
You might not convince everyone you’re right. But everyone must feel heard and that you’ve acknowledged their concerns. This is the path towards disagreeing and committing
Remember death every time, just like a samurai — it’s helpful for business
In a business setting, that entails admitting that you could go bankrupt all the time or get defeated by a competitor
The other samurai virtues comprised honor, politeness, and sincerity: three matching attributes that translate well to business
Our deeds define us
First impressions usually have a defining influence, irrespective of whether or not they’re as intense as that. This is the reason why it’s worth talking to new workers directly all the time about their first impressions, to tell if your company culture is shaping people in the appropriate manner
Genghis Khan accomplished his success by fostering inclusion and loyalty
Everyone needs to feel like they belong there and are working toward achieving common goals
Genghis understood that they lacked a common goal and, in a persistent military campaign, he discovered one for them
He prohibited inherited titles, and anybody who outshined could rise up
He fostered marriage between tribes to incorporate their cultures
Be yourself — understand your personal weaknesses and your strengths
Lead by example
Culture has to align strategy
Virtues should be actionable
Good leadership needs strong decision-making — and redefining a culture when essential
Strike a balance between empowerment and control
Let everybody have a say, however, make the last call yourself
A wartime CEO has put success ahead of the protocol on occasion and requires to act quickly and aggressively
A calmer, peacetime CEO concentrates more on good protocol and longer-term achievement
Changing between these modes can be difficult, and may need diverse management teams
Apple’s example — Steve Jobs was a wartime CEO, while Tim Cook his replacement works in peacetime
Two near-universal virtues that companies need to keep are trust and loyalty
Ensure that your workers trust both one another and you. Also, they need to trust you a lot that they can give you the bad news when it is needed
You have to nurture a tradition where you constantly know the worst of what’s happening
Your workers should trust you enough that they can bring problems to you, and understand that you’ll provide positive and constructive answers about them when they bring issues to you
Loyalty — target to keep a good relationship with them, take an honest interest and stay honest
Don’t assume that they will remain with you for life
Culturally, what you believe means nearly nothing. What you do is who you are
Leader's perspective on the culture isn’t relevant — that’s rarely what your people experience
The real question is what employees have to do to survive and succeed?
One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are — Steve Jobs
Startups who outsource engineering almost always fail
It’s easy to build an app or a website that meets the specification of some initial idea, but far more difficult to build something that will scale, evolve, handle edge cases gracefully
Culture begins with deciding what you value most
Culture means something in practice
Culture needs to be an expression of the business itself
Virtues are what you do. Values are what you believe
Values are worthless without actions
Bob Noyce, the co-founder of Intel — he provided the majority of his workers stock choices, and he sat everyone in one big room
Shock people and force them to ask why and must be something they encounter on a daily basis. This helps program the culture
Help people build discipline
When you are a leader, even your accidental actions set the culture
Emphasize the ‘why’ behind your values and the vision with every chance you get. That’s what gets remembered
Employees want to know that they matter, they’re making a difference, there’s meaningful work to be done, and they’re moving the bigger picture forward
If a culture can’t make quick decisions or has a void in leadership, it becomes defined by indifference
As a manager, the worst thing you can do is undermine decisions made above you — this creates cultural chaos, makes your team feel marginalized and powerless, and end result is apathy
It’s your job to understand the reasoning behind a decision, otherwise you have failed your team
Telling the truth isn’t natural. It requires courage. The easy thing to do is to tell someone what they want to hear
You might not convince everyone you’re right. But everyone must feel heard and that you’ve acknowledged their concerns. This is the path towards disagreeing and committing
Remember death every time, just like a samurai — it’s helpful for business
In a business setting, that entails admitting that you could go bankrupt all the time or get defeated by a competitor
The other samurai virtues comprised honor, politeness, and sincerity: three matching attributes that translate well to business
Our deeds define us
First impressions usually have a defining influence, irrespective of whether or not they’re as intense as that. This is the reason why it’s worth talking to new workers directly all the time about their first impressions, to tell if your company culture is shaping people in the appropriate manner
Genghis Khan accomplished his success by fostering inclusion and loyalty
Everyone needs to feel like they belong there and are working toward achieving common goals
Genghis understood that they lacked a common goal and, in a persistent military campaign, he discovered one for them
He prohibited inherited titles, and anybody who outshined could rise up
He fostered marriage between tribes to incorporate their cultures
Be yourself — understand your personal weaknesses and your strengths
Lead by example
Culture has to align strategy
Virtues should be actionable
Good leadership needs strong decision-making — and redefining a culture when essential
Strike a balance between empowerment and control
Let everybody have a say, however, make the last call yourself
A wartime CEO has put success ahead of the protocol on occasion and requires to act quickly and aggressively
A calmer, peacetime CEO concentrates more on good protocol and longer-term achievement
Changing between these modes can be difficult, and may need diverse management teams
Apple’s example — Steve Jobs was a wartime CEO, while Tim Cook his replacement works in peacetime
Two near-universal virtues that companies need to keep are trust and loyalty
Ensure that your workers trust both one another and you. Also, they need to trust you a lot that they can give you the bad news when it is needed
You have to nurture a tradition where you constantly know the worst of what’s happening
Your workers should trust you enough that they can bring problems to you, and understand that you’ll provide positive and constructive answers about them when they bring issues to you
Loyalty — target to keep a good relationship with them, take an honest interest and stay honest
Don’t assume that they will remain with you for life
March 4, 2021
Unexpected and delightful. Possibly the least dry and simultaneously most practical book on organizational culture currently on the market. Using a blend of case studies from history and present-day interviews, Horowitz offers insight and suggestions on purposeful actions leaders can take, actions proven to work (or fail!) in a variety of contexts, from feudal Japan to modern-day McDonalds, from revolutionary Haiti to major tech companies like Netflix, Uber, Apple, and Intel. In my top three work-related reads to date.
For a deeper glimpse into the content, see this blog post by my company's book club.
For a deeper glimpse into the content, see this blog post by my company's book club.
November 24, 2019
It was not as good as a book as Hard Things About Hard Things. But it reminded about many principles of how to create a culture in an organization. For example, your culture is what you tolerate. When you tolerate repeated bad behavior then you can expect it happening more often and spread all over you organization.
Also, your culture is how your actions are interpreted, not what your intentions are. This makes a good point about thinking about how your actions are percieved and not what you are trying to do. As the saying goes: road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I wonder how many job interviews in the future contain a question “what would you do if I punched you in the face?” inspired by this book? It’s definitely more than zero.
Also, your culture is how your actions are interpreted, not what your intentions are. This makes a good point about thinking about how your actions are percieved and not what you are trying to do. As the saying goes: road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I wonder how many job interviews in the future contain a question “what would you do if I punched you in the face?” inspired by this book? It’s definitely more than zero.
November 24, 2019
What a mess. What a waste of time. He berated Hillary Clinton for taking responsibility for things that weren’t enticing her control and lauds Mary Barra, who spent 38 years in multiple departments but had no idea people died for over ten years due to a Design defect, threw a few engineers under the bus and got millions, for her dress code. Praises managers who fire good workers for giving them good references. Genghis Khan?
This book is full of messed up ideas and it’s horrifying to know that executives think in such illogical and heartless ways.
Skip it.
This book is full of messed up ideas and it’s horrifying to know that executives think in such illogical and heartless ways.
Skip it.
September 8, 2021
Wow. An awesome walk-the-talk book about culture. Brings several histories from different periods of history and shows how leaders built up the cultures in different environments. This is nicely mixed with author's endeavors and discussed in depth to make it applicable.
Even with the rap quotations starting each chapter, and a bit far reaching narrative about Japanese qualities in one point (no mention of Deming), this book sends a strong wake up signal to anyone lost in a maze of a company culture.
Even with the rap quotations starting each chapter, and a bit far reaching narrative about Japanese qualities in one point (no mention of Deming), this book sends a strong wake up signal to anyone lost in a maze of a company culture.
November 4, 2019
In short summary: What you say means far less than what you do. Culture begins with deciding what you value most. Then you must help everyone in your organization to get there. Creating culture is being a leader.
Ben Horowitz writes in an interesting style that is engaging and broad in its examinations of various unexpected sources of culture cultures, like bushido samurai and Haitian slave rebellion. The Shaka Senghor chapter was so good, especially with the Audible narrator.
At times I forgot that it as business book because the lessons are deep and philosophical. Hooray for thinkers like BHororwitz, A16Z is lucky to have him.
Ben Horowitz writes in an interesting style that is engaging and broad in its examinations of various unexpected sources of culture cultures, like bushido samurai and Haitian slave rebellion. The Shaka Senghor chapter was so good, especially with the Audible narrator.
At times I forgot that it as business book because the lessons are deep and philosophical. Hooray for thinkers like BHororwitz, A16Z is lucky to have him.
November 5, 2019
"I don't how people behave in this company" - if you have ever said that it means that book is for you. I've never had a pleasure to meet such tangible content about the company's culture.
I guess there are CEOs / managers who won't like it - books included many suggestions about how a leader's actions and consequence determine how employees approach to the company look like.
"The hard thing..." was more spectacular, but that book is still a must-read for anyone who cares how his teammates behave at work.
I guess there are CEOs / managers who won't like it - books included many suggestions about how a leader's actions and consequence determine how employees approach to the company look like.
"The hard thing..." was more spectacular, but that book is still a must-read for anyone who cares how his teammates behave at work.
November 24, 2019
Книга про корпоративную культуру, с отсылками к историческим примерам создания и изменения культу��ы. Та часть что касается истории написана интересно, но вызывает сильные подозрения в части объективности. Чингисхан и Туссен-Лувертюр еще и в интерпретации современного предпринимателя являются достаточно странной основой для рекомендаций по строительству корпкультуры
November 3, 2019
I've read dozens of management books and Ben Horowitz's latest book is unique among them. He writes in a real, no-bullshit way about the messy real-life situations that nobody else talks about. As an entrepreneur reading this book I felt both deeply understood by him and challenged in a profound way.
Ben leads with examples far removed from the tech world, using Toussaint L'Ouverture (Haitian Revolution), Genghis Khan, Shaka Senghor (prison gang leader) and the Sumurai. The decision to use those examples highlights the universality of culture building and is also just pretty damn interesting.
My favourite idea from the book was about creating shocking rules that serve to highlight an aspect of the culture. For instance, Facebook's "Move fast and break things" highlights that the speed of innovation is the most important aspect of their culture.
The main point of the book is that actions, as opposed to values, are how you build a culture.
It's worth noting that the book is far from perfect and actually feels slightly unpolished in parts, but it's also the only book I've read that provides real insights into building cultures. So despite some shortcomings I highly recommend this book to all leaders.
Ben leads with examples far removed from the tech world, using Toussaint L'Ouverture (Haitian Revolution), Genghis Khan, Shaka Senghor (prison gang leader) and the Sumurai. The decision to use those examples highlights the universality of culture building and is also just pretty damn interesting.
My favourite idea from the book was about creating shocking rules that serve to highlight an aspect of the culture. For instance, Facebook's "Move fast and break things" highlights that the speed of innovation is the most important aspect of their culture.
The main point of the book is that actions, as opposed to values, are how you build a culture.
It's worth noting that the book is far from perfect and actually feels slightly unpolished in parts, but it's also the only book I've read that provides real insights into building cultures. So despite some shortcomings I highly recommend this book to all leaders.
December 2, 2019
What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture
The Good:
* The author points out great points about how culture can have unintended consequences (Uber’s “win at all costs” leading to uneithical practices.
* He also raises the interesting points on the difficulty in following things like being honest to employees(a la Yudishtir from Mahabharat). And an interesting point on how tacky situations by putting out a cause / meaning for something like layoff before other people. This is ofcourse a standard PR tactic.
* Need for Wartime CEO vs Peacetime CEO and how they function differently was interesting.
The Bad
* I felt that the author treats all culture as a tool to manipulate employees into earning more money for him rather than something he believes in. e.g. His earlier company was in a slump and needed a strong and focussed sales person. They hired such a person but that person was pretty opposite of their egalitarian and believing in good intent culture. He was extremely competitive and deeply suspicious of everyone (authors words). He even ended an interview in 5 min and then in front of the candidate threw their resume in the dustbin and then yelled out across the floor "who the f*** interviewed and allowed this guy to come to me". Also in front the candidate! I mean it's wrong nonetheless but still. The candidate complained to the company whistleblower and what did the author, as the CEO, do ? He “managed” the situation by giving the offender a room to prevent the noise from coming out. :| and creating a liability for the company. The author even says that this person increased their valuation by double. In effect meaning that if someone is making you money when in a tight spot, then everything else is ok. Now, I am ok with changing cultures like “Move fast and break things” to “Move fast and keep things stable” as the company matures. But the above example makes me think that if the very ethos of how to treat people around you can be changed for profit, then the author just sees everything as a weapon of war(“Use of Weapons”). I hope at least some companies don’t go down this path and treat everything else as subservient to profit.
The Questionable:
* The author uses examples from Genghis Khan and the Haitian revolution as proof for how should culture be and what practices to do. While the author has read quite a few books on these topics, he is not a historian. Additionally any information from 900 yrs old will be missing so much information and context that its really hard to directly apply to today’s world. Sadly those parts end up feeling like a Buzzfeed article “10 management tips from Genghis Khan” :p It would have been better to stick to recent examples from the CEOs he has worked with.
* The chapter on inclusion felt highly suspect to me. Now I am not an expert in race or minority / discriminated community issues, but neither is the author and the author is not (AFAIK) a member of these communities too. Hence I would be highly sceptical of taking his advice on how to solve diversity. Also he tended to subtly support meritocracy while ignoring the role of systemic and societal discriminatory practices which cause huge disadvantages (thus some people have to run a marathon when others are doing a 100 m race).
TL;DR : Some chapters are good and worth a read, but I found the historical references questionable and changing the very ethos for profit to be highly disturbing.
The Good:
* The author points out great points about how culture can have unintended consequences (Uber’s “win at all costs” leading to uneithical practices.
* He also raises the interesting points on the difficulty in following things like being honest to employees(a la Yudishtir from Mahabharat). And an interesting point on how tacky situations by putting out a cause / meaning for something like layoff before other people. This is ofcourse a standard PR tactic.
* Need for Wartime CEO vs Peacetime CEO and how they function differently was interesting.
The Bad
* I felt that the author treats all culture as a tool to manipulate employees into earning more money for him rather than something he believes in. e.g. His earlier company was in a slump and needed a strong and focussed sales person. They hired such a person but that person was pretty opposite of their egalitarian and believing in good intent culture. He was extremely competitive and deeply suspicious of everyone (authors words). He even ended an interview in 5 min and then in front of the candidate threw their resume in the dustbin and then yelled out across the floor "who the f*** interviewed and allowed this guy to come to me". Also in front the candidate! I mean it's wrong nonetheless but still. The candidate complained to the company whistleblower and what did the author, as the CEO, do ? He “managed” the situation by giving the offender a room to prevent the noise from coming out. :| and creating a liability for the company. The author even says that this person increased their valuation by double. In effect meaning that if someone is making you money when in a tight spot, then everything else is ok. Now, I am ok with changing cultures like “Move fast and break things” to “Move fast and keep things stable” as the company matures. But the above example makes me think that if the very ethos of how to treat people around you can be changed for profit, then the author just sees everything as a weapon of war(“Use of Weapons”). I hope at least some companies don’t go down this path and treat everything else as subservient to profit.
The Questionable:
* The author uses examples from Genghis Khan and the Haitian revolution as proof for how should culture be and what practices to do. While the author has read quite a few books on these topics, he is not a historian. Additionally any information from 900 yrs old will be missing so much information and context that its really hard to directly apply to today’s world. Sadly those parts end up feeling like a Buzzfeed article “10 management tips from Genghis Khan” :p It would have been better to stick to recent examples from the CEOs he has worked with.
* The chapter on inclusion felt highly suspect to me. Now I am not an expert in race or minority / discriminated community issues, but neither is the author and the author is not (AFAIK) a member of these communities too. Hence I would be highly sceptical of taking his advice on how to solve diversity. Also he tended to subtly support meritocracy while ignoring the role of systemic and societal discriminatory practices which cause huge disadvantages (thus some people have to run a marathon when others are doing a 100 m race).
TL;DR : Some chapters are good and worth a read, but I found the historical references questionable and changing the very ethos for profit to be highly disturbing.
October 3, 2021
This book will alienate people with sensibilities about history and violence.
This confidently contrarian, narrow representation of historical events screams of Silicon Valley’s dismissal of the complexity of issues and expert opinion. The populous’s frustrations with these attitudes contributes to the polarized political climate of today.
I get that history is the lies we agree to, but the author isn’t faithful to collecting a variety of perspectives. The author takes some of the worst atrocities in history, shares just enough of the details to support the lessons he’s grafting on, and uses cold business lens to make memorable company culture lessons. The author romanticizes ancient civilization life — yes, the lords had it good, the Haitian Revolution, and prison culture.
"Struggled to finish listening to What You Do Is Who You Are on audiobook for similar reasons. It went from a story of coddling a salesman who demeaned interviewees because he created good sales culture to dropping rap lyrics with N bombs. Just too much"
Dare Obasanjo @Carnage4Life on Twitter https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/stat...
“I’m extraordinarily uncomfortable with using slavery and prison culture as ‘good examples’ for drawing the lessons we need to draw,” one employee wrote. “To use a man’s need to survive in prison and turning it into a joke for how that’s like new hire orientation. Just…”
Jessica Guynn USA TODAY 2020 Jan 9 article "Ben Horowitz slammed for prison, slavery comments during Pinterest company fireside chat"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...
There would be impressive stories of redemption and leadership here if it wasn’t so divorced from the historical records and reality.
"What Horowitz frames as revolutionary change is instead a cherry-picking of Louverture’s policies that, in fact, (in a modified version) maintained the status quo." Dr. Julia Gaffield, Historian of Haiti and the Atlantic World, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What did I learn? That the author appears to be callous. There are incredible business leadership gems throughout, but the price of reading pages of poorly considered, Quentin Tarantino ready historical fiction is far too high.
"I'm about to explain to you why the book is so violent .... so I needed a real story that they would remember and understand to get them to do the right thing ... " Ben Horowitz, Nov 21, 2019, 21:40 min, Computer History Museum
What does this say about Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) company culture? This book is a a16z product, marketed and toured by a16z and wrapped in charity. The lesson is the author seems to be unsuccessful in having his firm do the difficult virtue of speaking truth to power.
--
The book tour interviews are amazing though:
Ben Horowitz Speaks On Breaking Into Tech Early, Advice To Kanye West + His New Book
Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM Nov 5, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QugdN...
Andreessen Horowitz Co-Founder Ben Horowitz on 'Bloomberg Studio 1.0'
Jan 16, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Kt4...
And less about the book, but as much about the concepts
"Ben Horowitz — What You Do Is Who You Are >> Lessons from Silicon Valley, Andy Grove, Genghis Khan, Slave Revolutions, and More (#392)"
https://tim.blog/2019/10/24/ben-horow...
This confidently contrarian, narrow representation of historical events screams of Silicon Valley’s dismissal of the complexity of issues and expert opinion. The populous’s frustrations with these attitudes contributes to the polarized political climate of today.
I get that history is the lies we agree to, but the author isn’t faithful to collecting a variety of perspectives. The author takes some of the worst atrocities in history, shares just enough of the details to support the lessons he’s grafting on, and uses cold business lens to make memorable company culture lessons. The author romanticizes ancient civilization life — yes, the lords had it good, the Haitian Revolution, and prison culture.
"Struggled to finish listening to What You Do Is Who You Are on audiobook for similar reasons. It went from a story of coddling a salesman who demeaned interviewees because he created good sales culture to dropping rap lyrics with N bombs. Just too much"
Dare Obasanjo @Carnage4Life on Twitter https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/stat...
“I’m extraordinarily uncomfortable with using slavery and prison culture as ‘good examples’ for drawing the lessons we need to draw,” one employee wrote. “To use a man’s need to survive in prison and turning it into a joke for how that’s like new hire orientation. Just…”
Jessica Guynn USA TODAY 2020 Jan 9 article "Ben Horowitz slammed for prison, slavery comments during Pinterest company fireside chat"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...
There would be impressive stories of redemption and leadership here if it wasn’t so divorced from the historical records and reality.
"What Horowitz frames as revolutionary change is instead a cherry-picking of Louverture’s policies that, in fact, (in a modified version) maintained the status quo." Dr. Julia Gaffield, Historian of Haiti and the Atlantic World, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What did I learn? That the author appears to be callous. There are incredible business leadership gems throughout, but the price of reading pages of poorly considered, Quentin Tarantino ready historical fiction is far too high.
"I'm about to explain to you why the book is so violent .... so I needed a real story that they would remember and understand to get them to do the right thing ... " Ben Horowitz, Nov 21, 2019, 21:40 min, Computer History Museum
What does this say about Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) company culture? This book is a a16z product, marketed and toured by a16z and wrapped in charity. The lesson is the author seems to be unsuccessful in having his firm do the difficult virtue of speaking truth to power.
--
The book tour interviews are amazing though:
Ben Horowitz Speaks On Breaking Into Tech Early, Advice To Kanye West + His New Book
Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM Nov 5, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QugdN...
Andreessen Horowitz Co-Founder Ben Horowitz on 'Bloomberg Studio 1.0'
Jan 16, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Kt4...
And less about the book, but as much about the concepts
"Ben Horowitz — What You Do Is Who You Are >> Lessons from Silicon Valley, Andy Grove, Genghis Khan, Slave Revolutions, and More (#392)"
https://tim.blog/2019/10/24/ben-horow...
December 2, 2019
A must-read for anyone interested in how company or group cultures are created. Nice set of examples, easy read/listen.
Long story short: list of values or listing values does not create culture. What happens and what is done, especially when you're outside of the room, is the culture and that is mostly build based on "leading by example" not by the wishful thinking and promotion of "these are our values" lists.
For example, if we ask people to stay focused in the meetings and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow; or if we ask people to not open our laptops on the meetings and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow; or if we ask people not to be late and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow. It is as easy as that. So, “do as I do, not as I say” and “culture is what others say when you’re not in the room”. Many other thoughts in the book.
Friendly hint: the last chapters are more down to earth if you feel it is getting too far into the past in the beginning.
Long story short: list of values or listing values does not create culture. What happens and what is done, especially when you're outside of the room, is the culture and that is mostly build based on "leading by example" not by the wishful thinking and promotion of "these are our values" lists.
For example, if we ask people to stay focused in the meetings and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow; or if we ask people to not open our laptops on the meetings and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow; or if we ask people not to be late and fail ourselves it might need a single case for others to drop to follow. It is as easy as that. So, “do as I do, not as I say” and “culture is what others say when you’re not in the room”. Many other thoughts in the book.
Friendly hint: the last chapters are more down to earth if you feel it is getting too far into the past in the beginning.
November 17, 2019
I respect BH as a very smart person with incredible experience. Even people who have so much to share don't have to be great in sharing - fortunately BH is. I don't like his interviews, I find some of his references (especially hip-hop song citations) annoying, but in the end - both his books ("The hard things ..." & "What you do ...") are absolutely stellar - I can only recommend them.
"What you do ..." is a book about culture. Defining it (up to the level it's possible ...), cultivating it, threats to the culture, etc. It's not a dry read - BH uses few selected examples (not really the most trivial ones - I'd say ...) to illustrate the concepts.
It was a short read, but definitely worth it - my favorite part (and an A-HA moment) was about the difference between acting in the interest of the culture and of a tribe. Recommended.
"What you do ..." is a book about culture. Defining it (up to the level it's possible ...), cultivating it, threats to the culture, etc. It's not a dry read - BH uses few selected examples (not really the most trivial ones - I'd say ...) to illustrate the concepts.
It was a short read, but definitely worth it - my favorite part (and an A-HA moment) was about the difference between acting in the interest of the culture and of a tribe. Recommended.
January 9, 2020
(Read for book club at work)
Trade-offs: On the one hand, Horowitz is not a historian and the way he chose to structure the book was bizarre. On the other, there were enough good nuggets of food for thought (scattered throughout but mostly in last 3 chapters) that it made for a healthy book club discussion with colleagues.
Trade-offs: On the one hand, Horowitz is not a historian and the way he chose to structure the book was bizarre. On the other, there were enough good nuggets of food for thought (scattered throughout but mostly in last 3 chapters) that it made for a healthy book club discussion with colleagues.
June 20, 2023
My hopes were so high after The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers... but this book is not at the same level, I am afraid.
"What You Do Is Who You Are" underscores the critical role of culture in shaping the success of a business. It offers practical insights, case studies, and actionable advice for leaders to create and maintain a strong and effective company culture that aligns with their values and drives long-term success.
Key Points:
Culture is paramount: Horowitz emphasizes that a company's culture is one of its most valuable assets. He argues that culture is not just about perks and benefits but about defining the values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape an organization. A strong culture can attract and retain talented employees, foster innovation, and drive success.
Culture is created by actions, not words: Horowitz stresses that culture is not merely a set of slogans or mission statements. It is formed through consistent actions and decisions made by leaders and employees. Leaders must demonstrate the desired values and behaviors and hold themselves accountable to the same standards they expect from others.
Lessons from historical figures: The book explores historical leaders and figures who successfully shaped cultures in challenging environments. Horowitz examines the leadership styles of individuals such as Genghis Khan, Toussaint Louverture, and Shaka Senghor, highlighting their unique approaches to building and maintaining strong cultures.
Defining and living core values: Horowitz emphasizes the importance of defining core values that reflect the company's mission and purpose. However, he argues that defining values alone is not sufficient. Leaders must actively live and reinforce these values through their actions, decisions, and hiring practices.
Navigating culture in difficult times: The book acknowledges that maintaining a strong culture can be challenging during times of crisis or rapid growth. Horowitz provides insights on how leaders can navigate difficult situations, make tough decisions, and preserve the integrity of the culture even in challenging circumstances.
Diversity and inclusion: Horowitz addresses the importance of diversity and inclusion in shaping a company's culture. He discusses the benefits of diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds, and provides guidance on fostering an inclusive culture that values and respects all individuals.
Building accountability: The book emphasizes the need for clear accountability within an organization. Horowitz discusses the importance of setting expectations, providing feedback, and holding employees accountable for their actions and performance. He provides strategies for fostering a culture of accountability without stifling creativity and innovation.
Learning from failures: Horowitz shares personal anecdotes and examples from his own experiences in building and scaling companies. He highlights the value of learning from failures and using them as opportunities to improve and refine the company's culture.
"What You Do Is Who You Are" underscores the critical role of culture in shaping the success of a business. It offers practical insights, case studies, and actionable advice for leaders to create and maintain a strong and effective company culture that aligns with their values and drives long-term success.
Key Points:
Culture is paramount: Horowitz emphasizes that a company's culture is one of its most valuable assets. He argues that culture is not just about perks and benefits but about defining the values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape an organization. A strong culture can attract and retain talented employees, foster innovation, and drive success.
Culture is created by actions, not words: Horowitz stresses that culture is not merely a set of slogans or mission statements. It is formed through consistent actions and decisions made by leaders and employees. Leaders must demonstrate the desired values and behaviors and hold themselves accountable to the same standards they expect from others.
Lessons from historical figures: The book explores historical leaders and figures who successfully shaped cultures in challenging environments. Horowitz examines the leadership styles of individuals such as Genghis Khan, Toussaint Louverture, and Shaka Senghor, highlighting their unique approaches to building and maintaining strong cultures.
Defining and living core values: Horowitz emphasizes the importance of defining core values that reflect the company's mission and purpose. However, he argues that defining values alone is not sufficient. Leaders must actively live and reinforce these values through their actions, decisions, and hiring practices.
Navigating culture in difficult times: The book acknowledges that maintaining a strong culture can be challenging during times of crisis or rapid growth. Horowitz provides insights on how leaders can navigate difficult situations, make tough decisions, and preserve the integrity of the culture even in challenging circumstances.
Diversity and inclusion: Horowitz addresses the importance of diversity and inclusion in shaping a company's culture. He discusses the benefits of diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds, and provides guidance on fostering an inclusive culture that values and respects all individuals.
Building accountability: The book emphasizes the need for clear accountability within an organization. Horowitz discusses the importance of setting expectations, providing feedback, and holding employees accountable for their actions and performance. He provides strategies for fostering a culture of accountability without stifling creativity and innovation.
Learning from failures: Horowitz shares personal anecdotes and examples from his own experiences in building and scaling companies. He highlights the value of learning from failures and using them as opportunities to improve and refine the company's culture.
November 11, 2019
I had a feeling that I would like the book and it didn’t disappoint. I loved the fact that it wasn’t just thoughts and experiences from the author but it was backed and illustrated with historical stories and facts about what culture is and how it impacts where the group with the culture gets to.
The book definitely made me think about our company’s values, what works, what doesn’t, why and how really good values look like.
One thing I hadn’t thought about before is the idea that company values don’t necessarily need to stay the same indefinitely but can and maybe even should change over time. The book makes a pretty good case for it and has some good examples to back it up. One thing to remember though is that it needs to be conscious and communicated out.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a role model or a leader for anyone.
The book definitely made me think about our company’s values, what works, what doesn’t, why and how really good values look like.
One thing I hadn’t thought about before is the idea that company values don’t necessarily need to stay the same indefinitely but can and maybe even should change over time. The book makes a pretty good case for it and has some good examples to back it up. One thing to remember though is that it needs to be conscious and communicated out.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a role model or a leader for anyone.
December 31, 2019
A journey through "culture", from ancient to modern.
فرهنگ سازمانی
Never underestimate the importance of a business’s culture. Examples past and present show that culture should be much more than just a list of values pinned to the wall: it should be a set of virtues that underpins everything your business does. That’s because it’s our actions – what we do, not what we say or feel – that define who we are.
فرهنگ سازمانی
Never underestimate the importance of a business’s culture. Examples past and present show that culture should be much more than just a list of values pinned to the wall: it should be a set of virtues that underpins everything your business does. That’s because it’s our actions – what we do, not what we say or feel – that define who we are.
July 15, 2020
Worth reading but below expectations.
February 6, 2023
Когда Хоровиц не пытается шокировать нас примерами от Чингисхана и Туссена-Лувертюра, получается довольно стандартное высказывание о важности культуры компании и следования своим принципам. Ощущение довольно неприятное, а тут еще через страницу кого-то убивают, вырезают и насилуют. Автору стоило остановиться на одной книге.
February 26, 2023
Had some good stuff but the fact he plagiarized his other book so frequently in this makes it seem like a money grab. He also took some liberties in interpreting historical events. 3 stars.
January 15, 2020
Jos on pakko lukea joku organisaatiokulttuurikirja, suosittelen tätä. Todella hyvin kuvattu hankalia tilanteita ilman tyhjää inspislässytystä. Esimerkit monipuolisia.
August 8, 2020
Great book about building Culture in your Organization.
January 13, 2020
The good thing about this book are the direct intriguing questions that Horowitz makes you ask, in that matter the book is similar to his other book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
Moving forward: "If you cannot get a decision from lower levels come directly to me and I'll promise to get back to you within a week" ->things immediately started moving in the organization.
“I hear you and, quite frankly, I agree with you, but I was overruled by the powers that be.” This is absolutely toxic to the culture. Everyone on the team will feel marginalized because they work for someone who’s powerless. This makes them one level less than powerless.” Instead agree to disagree but always commit to support to the decision.
“I was definitely zero-tolerance on managers who undermined decisions, because that led to cultural chaos.”
The empowerment test: how far down the hierarchy can a particular decision be made?
CEO question: "If you were me, what would you change in the company"?
“Culture is not like a mission statement; you can’t just set it up and have it last forever. There’s a saying in the military that if you see something below standard and do nothing, then you’ve set a new standard. This is also true of culture—if you see something off-culture and ignore it, you’ve created a new culture.”
“Because your culture is how your company makes decisions when you’re not there. It’s the set of assumptions your employees use to resolve the problems they face every day. It’s how they behave when no one is looking. If you don’t methodically set your culture, then two-thirds of it will end up being accidental, and the rest will be a mistake.”
“Your employees will test you on your cultural virtues, either accidentally or on purpose, so before you put one into your company, ask yourself, “Am I willing to pass the test on this?”
Interview tips:
“I began looking for these four: Smart. It doesn’t mean high IQ (although that’s great), it means disposed toward learning. If there’s a best practice anywhere, adopt it. We want to turn as much as possible into a routine so we can focus on the few things that require human intelligence and creativity. A good interview question for this is: “Tell me about the last significant thing you learned about how to do your job better.” Or you might ask a candidate: “What’s something that you’ve automated? What’s a process you’ve had to tear down at a company?” Humble. I don’t mean meek or unambitious, I mean being humble in the way that Steph Curry is humble. If you’re humble, people want you to succeed. If you’re selfish, they want you to fail. It also gives you the capacity for self-awareness, so you can actually learn and be smart. Humility is foundational like that. It is also essential for the kind of collaboration we want at Slack. Hardworking. It does not mean long hours. You can go home and take care of your family, but when you’re here, you’re disciplined, professional, and focused. You should also be competitive, determined, resourceful, resilient, and gritty. Take this job as an opportunity to do the best work of your life. Collaborative. It’s not submissive, not deferential—in fact it’s kind of the opposite. In our culture, being collaborative means providing leadership from everywhere. I’m taking responsibility for the health of this meeting. If there’s a lack of trust, I’m going to address that. If the goals are unclear, I’m going to deal with that. We’re all interested in getting better and everyone should take responsibility for that. If everyone’s collaborative in that sense, the responsibility for team performance is shared. Collaborative people know that success is limited by the worst performers, so they are either going to elevate them or have a serious conversation. This one is easy to corroborate with references, and in an interview you can ask, “Tell me about a situation in your last company where something was substandard and you helped to fix it.”
Moving forward: "If you cannot get a decision from lower levels come directly to me and I'll promise to get back to you within a week" ->things immediately started moving in the organization.
“I hear you and, quite frankly, I agree with you, but I was overruled by the powers that be.” This is absolutely toxic to the culture. Everyone on the team will feel marginalized because they work for someone who’s powerless. This makes them one level less than powerless.” Instead agree to disagree but always commit to support to the decision.
“I was definitely zero-tolerance on managers who undermined decisions, because that led to cultural chaos.”
The empowerment test: how far down the hierarchy can a particular decision be made?
CEO question: "If you were me, what would you change in the company"?
“Culture is not like a mission statement; you can’t just set it up and have it last forever. There’s a saying in the military that if you see something below standard and do nothing, then you’ve set a new standard. This is also true of culture—if you see something off-culture and ignore it, you’ve created a new culture.”
“Because your culture is how your company makes decisions when you’re not there. It’s the set of assumptions your employees use to resolve the problems they face every day. It’s how they behave when no one is looking. If you don’t methodically set your culture, then two-thirds of it will end up being accidental, and the rest will be a mistake.”
“Your employees will test you on your cultural virtues, either accidentally or on purpose, so before you put one into your company, ask yourself, “Am I willing to pass the test on this?”
Interview tips:
“I began looking for these four: Smart. It doesn’t mean high IQ (although that’s great), it means disposed toward learning. If there’s a best practice anywhere, adopt it. We want to turn as much as possible into a routine so we can focus on the few things that require human intelligence and creativity. A good interview question for this is: “Tell me about the last significant thing you learned about how to do your job better.” Or you might ask a candidate: “What’s something that you’ve automated? What’s a process you’ve had to tear down at a company?” Humble. I don’t mean meek or unambitious, I mean being humble in the way that Steph Curry is humble. If you’re humble, people want you to succeed. If you’re selfish, they want you to fail. It also gives you the capacity for self-awareness, so you can actually learn and be smart. Humility is foundational like that. It is also essential for the kind of collaboration we want at Slack. Hardworking. It does not mean long hours. You can go home and take care of your family, but when you’re here, you’re disciplined, professional, and focused. You should also be competitive, determined, resourceful, resilient, and gritty. Take this job as an opportunity to do the best work of your life. Collaborative. It’s not submissive, not deferential—in fact it’s kind of the opposite. In our culture, being collaborative means providing leadership from everywhere. I’m taking responsibility for the health of this meeting. If there’s a lack of trust, I’m going to address that. If the goals are unclear, I’m going to deal with that. We’re all interested in getting better and everyone should take responsibility for that. If everyone’s collaborative in that sense, the responsibility for team performance is shared. Collaborative people know that success is limited by the worst performers, so they are either going to elevate them or have a serious conversation. This one is easy to corroborate with references, and in an interview you can ask, “Tell me about a situation in your last company where something was substandard and you helped to fix it.”
August 30, 2020
This is the most in depth book about culture I've found. But it's not as good as his other book. I do like the thesis: culture is actions not beliefs so you have to keep readjusting.
"One difficult in enforcing integrity is that it's a concept without boundaries. You can't pat yourself on the back for treating your employees ethically if you're simultaneously lying to your customers because your employees will pick up on the discrepancy and start lying to each other. The behaviors must be universal. You have to live up to them in every context."
Rules for writing a rule: shocking enough for people to ask why. The answer clearly explains concept and impact. Rule should be encountered daily.
"If you weren't selling a customer on your product then the customer was selling you on why she wasn't going to buy it."
"The challenge wasn't getting into a new business -...that's b-school 101. The challenge was getting into a new business with the intention of making it the business."
"That's the nature of culture. It's not a single decision. It's a code that manifest itself as a vast set of actions taken over time. No one person makes or takes all these actions. Cultural design is way to program the actions of an organization. But, like computer programs, every culture has bugs. And cultures are significantly more difficult to debug than programs."
"In the US today get on Twitter and decry the lack of empathy in our country and then we wonder why empathy keeps diminishing. A culture is not the sum of its outrage. It's a set of actions."
"Anytime you decide one group is inherently good or bad, regardless of their behavior, you program dishonesty into your organization."
"Culture is weird like that. Because it's a set of actions, not of beliefs it almost never adds up exactly as you intended. This is why it's not a set it and forget it endeavor. You must constantly examine and reshape your culture or it won't be your culture at all."
"Many people believe... that employees only operate within a given corporate culture while they're at the office. The truth is that what people do at the office - where they spend most of their waking hours- becomes who they are. Office culture is highly infectious."
"The relevant question is 'What must employees do to survive and succeed at your organization? What behaviors get them included in or excluded from the powerbase? What gets them ahead?'"
Ask new employees after first week: "Make sure you ask them for the bad stuff, the practices or assumptions that made them wary or uncomfortable. Ask them what's different in other places they've worked... then ask them for advice. "if you were me, how would you improve the culture based on your first week here. What would you try to enhance?"
"To solidify this new meritocracy he made it a capital offense for his family members to become a Khan or leader without being elected to the post." (Genghis Khan)
"In our culture being collaborative means providing leadership from everywhere."
"Every time an employee works hard to make a change or to propose a new idea only to be met with bureaucracy, indecision, or apathy, the culture suffers."
"Many managers want to attend executive staff meetings as it makes them feel needed and it puts them in the know. I made use of this desire by setting a price of admission to the meeting: you had to fess up to at least one thing that was on fire. I'd say "I know with great certainty that there are things that are completely broken in our company. And I wanna know what they are. If you don't know what they are then you are of no use to me in this meeting.'"
"One difficult in enforcing integrity is that it's a concept without boundaries. You can't pat yourself on the back for treating your employees ethically if you're simultaneously lying to your customers because your employees will pick up on the discrepancy and start lying to each other. The behaviors must be universal. You have to live up to them in every context."
Rules for writing a rule: shocking enough for people to ask why. The answer clearly explains concept and impact. Rule should be encountered daily.
"If you weren't selling a customer on your product then the customer was selling you on why she wasn't going to buy it."
"The challenge wasn't getting into a new business -...that's b-school 101. The challenge was getting into a new business with the intention of making it the business."
"That's the nature of culture. It's not a single decision. It's a code that manifest itself as a vast set of actions taken over time. No one person makes or takes all these actions. Cultural design is way to program the actions of an organization. But, like computer programs, every culture has bugs. And cultures are significantly more difficult to debug than programs."
"In the US today get on Twitter and decry the lack of empathy in our country and then we wonder why empathy keeps diminishing. A culture is not the sum of its outrage. It's a set of actions."
"Anytime you decide one group is inherently good or bad, regardless of their behavior, you program dishonesty into your organization."
"Culture is weird like that. Because it's a set of actions, not of beliefs it almost never adds up exactly as you intended. This is why it's not a set it and forget it endeavor. You must constantly examine and reshape your culture or it won't be your culture at all."
"Many people believe... that employees only operate within a given corporate culture while they're at the office. The truth is that what people do at the office - where they spend most of their waking hours- becomes who they are. Office culture is highly infectious."
"The relevant question is 'What must employees do to survive and succeed at your organization? What behaviors get them included in or excluded from the powerbase? What gets them ahead?'"
Ask new employees after first week: "Make sure you ask them for the bad stuff, the practices or assumptions that made them wary or uncomfortable. Ask them what's different in other places they've worked... then ask them for advice. "if you were me, how would you improve the culture based on your first week here. What would you try to enhance?"
"To solidify this new meritocracy he made it a capital offense for his family members to become a Khan or leader without being elected to the post." (Genghis Khan)
"In our culture being collaborative means providing leadership from everywhere."
"Every time an employee works hard to make a change or to propose a new idea only to be met with bureaucracy, indecision, or apathy, the culture suffers."
"Many managers want to attend executive staff meetings as it makes them feel needed and it puts them in the know. I made use of this desire by setting a price of admission to the meeting: you had to fess up to at least one thing that was on fire. I'd say "I know with great certainty that there are things that are completely broken in our company. And I wanna know what they are. If you don't know what they are then you are of no use to me in this meeting.'"
December 17, 2021
Ben Horowitz enjoyed the success of his previous book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (which I liked), but he didn't have enough material to write a new one. So he read a few biographies, regurgitated them, linked it to tech companies, and then ran out of steam and started giving generic advice.
October 5, 2021
Подборка интересных, но не более, анекдотов на тему корпоративной культуры. Растиражированная коучинг-литература: богатый белый цисгендерный мужчина цитирует рэперов из гетто.
November 4, 2019
This time, Ben Horowitz aimed to explain company culture. Again, his thoughts are crystal clear and profound as they're based on his experience, rather than scientific research. I buy it.
His book is written in a very specific, yet interesting format. There is a visible storytelling approach:
1) Do you know the story about "some known, yet not common knowledge historical fact"?
2) Here is what happened in this story!
3) There is more! We can learn something from it
4) Case study of XX/XXI century companies, e.g. Uber/Lyft, Intel, IBM, Slack, Stripe, Facebook, Google, Apple (part of them from A16Z portfolio)
5) How we can apply it to our own company.
Overall, Horowitz based it's story on few cherry-picked historical figures or themes: Toussaint Louverture (Haitan Revolution Leader), Shaka Senghor (ex-convict, gang leader), Genghis Khan,
Samurais and their code.
It's a nice blend of leitmotives and facts, flavored with intelligent and rational thoughts of VC/Silicon Valley mogul.
Liked it a lot.
His book is written in a very specific, yet interesting format. There is a visible storytelling approach:
1) Do you know the story about "some known, yet not common knowledge historical fact"?
2) Here is what happened in this story!
3) There is more! We can learn something from it
4) Case study of XX/XXI century companies, e.g. Uber/Lyft, Intel, IBM, Slack, Stripe, Facebook, Google, Apple (part of them from A16Z portfolio)
5) How we can apply it to our own company.
Overall, Horowitz based it's story on few cherry-picked historical figures or themes: Toussaint Louverture (Haitan Revolution Leader), Shaka Senghor (ex-convict, gang leader), Genghis Khan,
Samurais and their code.
It's a nice blend of leitmotives and facts, flavored with intelligent and rational thoughts of VC/Silicon Valley mogul.
Liked it a lot.
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