Cargo Culting Culture
The idea of cargo culting is an interesting organizational anti-pattern [1] [2]. During my Twitter tenure, I heard it used in an even broader context - blindly attempting to copy/paste culture [3]. For example, Google is successful, Google does pooled hiring, we should do pooled hiring. Not only did the idea not make any sense for Twitter, it also backfired spectacularly (hiring managers were disempowered, teams fought over pipeline, decision were dragged out, close rates plummeted, etc). Pooled hiring not working at Twitter isn’t a knock on the idea itself or Twitter recruiting (my BFFs!), but more a reflection of Twitter culture not being Google culture, and rejecting a practice that felt grafted on.
Some customs that are commonly cargo culted but rarely absorbed:
Amazon’s bar raiser approach to hiring
Apple’s DRI model for accountability
SpaceX’s edict against acronyms
Pixar’s anti-mediocrity Braintrust
Microsoft’s cult of puzzle interviews
Intel’s OKR template for goal-setting
Google’s TGIF all hands for transparency
Twitter’s anonymous Q&A forums
Intuit’s DACI framework for decision-making
Amazon’s Powerpoint ban / memo focus
Netflix’s culture deck
I’d love to hear from readers what other cultural norms they’ve seen haphazardly copy/pasted from company to company - please chime in via the comments feature below👇. And if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing!
further reading / references
childish drawing / interpretation
