The Culture Engine summary

Want to revolutionize your work culture and transform your business? Start by writing an organizational constitution – a formal document that sets out the core principles of your company or team.

Here’s how it works:

Organizational constitutions lay out specific rights for employees and standards for them to follow. Think of it like the rules of the road, guidelines you use to navigate an ambiguous situation and govern your behavior.

For instance, when arguing with a colleague, it’s easy to go too far and insult them. But if your organizational constitution includes a zero-tolerance policy for rude conduct between co-workers, you would likely choose your words more carefully.

But an organizational constitution should also answer important questions: What are our company goals? What performance targets can help us meet them? And what are our standards for how we treat each other?

For example, when Tony Hsieh founded the online shoe store Zappos, his intention was for the company to have a fun, familial atmosphere. To facilitate this, he defined ten values that would form the basis of the company culture.

Here’s why an organizational constitution is essential for your business:

Without an agreement to guide it, your company will struggle to develop a good work culture, and your organization’s culture has a huge impact on its success.

Take Zappos’ renowned customer service. Since Zappos’ employees like their jobs, they’re full of enthusiasm, which they then pass on to their customers. The customers then associate this enthusiasm with Zappos, which is a big plus for the company. In fact, Amazon cited Zappos’ great office culture as a major incentive for purchasing the company in 2009.

Zappos owes their culture to their constitution, because when there’s a formal agreement governing how people are treated, everyone feels safe, respected and engaged with their work. And engaged employees are better employees: a 2013 Gallup study found that engaged workers are more productive, with less turnover, fewer accidents and better customer satisfaction.