Inspiration
As John Cowper Powys said, in one of my favorite books, The Meaning of Culture (1929):Culture is what is left over after you have forgotten all you have definitely set out to learn…One always feels that a merely educated man holds his philosophical views as if they were so many pennies in his pocket. They are separate from his life. Whereas with a cultured man there is no gap or lacuna between his opinions and his life. Both are dominated by the same organic, inevitable fatality. They are what he is.Great companies always have this sense of authenticity, while “me too” companies have a culture made up of the latest management fashions. I like to think that O’Reilly has an authentic culture. Our idiosyncracies are our strength, leading us in unexpected directions that is somehow true to something we might not recognize if we were following a map laid down by someone else.
At our Monday company meetings, we take turns sharing something inspiring. Previous shares have included:
- Glenn Kelman’s inspirational speech at the Seattle 2.0 awards
- Tony Hsieh’s talk about Zappos culture at Startup2Startup (part1, part2)
- Greg Gottesman’s recent post on 13 characteristics of a great startup culture
- Photos of Space (ask Natala…)
Tim’s quote about culture and authenticity will be my contribution for next week.
