Diaundra's TL;DR - What You Do Is Who You Are Ben Horowitz š„
8 things I learned reading āWhat You Do Is Who You Areā by Ben Horowitz
Quick note: The fun in writing these recaps for me is the challenge of trying to condense an entire book into a quick digestible summary. The āconstraintsā that I give myself when writing, is that my final summary must fit on one screen of my iPhone within the ānotesā app.Ā
In writing this recap in particular, I found myself in a deeper challenge than usual. Why you may ask? Because author, Ben Horowitz, did such an incredible job closing the book with his own two page summary (pg. 244-246). After many battles with self of trying to out summarize the authors summary, I decided āif itās not broke, why fix it?ā So in this weekās summary, here is a summary of the summary. Hope you enjoy (:Ā
What every culture needs:Ā
Cultural design: align your culture with both your personality & your strategy. Dont be ambiguousĀ
Cultural orientation: Be intentional with setting a lasting impression about how to be successful in your organizationĀ
Shocking rules: āAny rule so surprising that it makes people ask āwhy do we have this ruleā will reinforce key cultural elements. Think about how you can shock your organization into cultural compliance.āĀ
Incorporate outside leadership: Bring in proās from the culture you aspire to haveĀ
Make ethics explicit: Do not assume people will do the right thing. Define āthe right thingā and make sure people know expectations around themĀ
Give cultural tenets deep meaning: get to the root of the ultimate whyĀ
Make decisions that demonstrate priorities: Reinforce your culture through how you show up
Walk the talk: What you do is even more important than what you sayĀ
A question for you: What would people say speak louder in relation to how you show up, your actions or your words?
DM me you answer on IG. For a full list of all my 2023 reads & what iāll be reading next check out my āTable of Contentsā.
Till next time, be blessed. š
With love,
Diaundra