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The following are the notes from my reading of The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle in October 2019.

  • Pg 3 – Skills of successful teams
    • Build Safety
    • Share Vulnerability
    • Establish Purpose
  • BUILD SAFETY
  • Pg 6 – Good Apple.  Leader creates environment of safety.  Culture is not something you are, it’s something you do.
  • Pg 14 – Five measurable drivers of team performance
    • Everyone talks and listens in equal measures
    • High level of eye contact and gestures are energetic
    • Members communicate with each other, not just with the leader
    • There are back-channel or side conversations
    • Members periodically break, explore outside the team then bring information back to the team
  • Pg 7 – High functioning groups describe their relationship as “family”
  • Pg 22-24 Outline of Belonging Cues
  • Pg 36 – Wipro uses personalized experience in on boarding training to give belonging cues
  • Pg 44 – Belonging Cues require an environment that answers these 3 questions
    • Are we connected?
    • Do we share a future?
    • Are we safe?
  • Pg 52 – Radical Candor
  • Pg 55 – Successful cultures are not about creating a happy, lighthearted place, they are less oriented on achieving happiness and more around solving hard problems together – then confront the gap of where the group is and where it should be
  • Pg 56 – Magical Feedback
  • Pg 70 – Visual contact is more important than you think.  Biggest factor in cohesive groups is desk location and the ability to see each other.
  • Pg 71 – 8M seems to be the magic distance. Allen Curve
  • Pg 72 – Workers in close proximity email/txt each other 4Xs more than those not. 32% faster project completion times.
  • Pg 75 – Over communicate your listening
  • Pg 76 – Show your own fallibility in order to build safety.
  • Pg 77 – Actively invite input to build safety.
  • Pg 77 – Now much a person emails about family, coffee or sports was a predictor of retention.  More than money they brought in.
  • Pg 80 – “Thank you” cause people to behave more generously, even toward other people, and are crucial belonging cues.
  • Pg 80 – Laughter is most fundamental sign of safety and belonging
  • HOW TO CREATE SAFETY (ACTIONS)
    • Pg 75 – Over communicate your listening
    • Pg 76 – Spotlight your fallibility early
    • Pg 77 – Embrace the messenger of bad news
    • Pg 77 – Preview future connections
    • Pg 78 – Overdo Thank-yous 
    • Pg 81 – Be painstaking in your hiring process
    • Pg 81 – Eliminate bad apples
    • Pg 81 – Create safe, collision-rich space
    • Pg 83 – Make sure everyone has a voice
    • Pg 84 – Pick up trash
    • Pg 86 – Capitalize on threshold moments
    • Pg 87 – Avoid giving sandwich feedback
    • Pg 88 – Embrace fun and laughter
  • SHARE VULNERABILITY
  • Pg 99 – Seal teams use After Action Reviews immediately after a mission.  (Should we move our release reviews up?)
  • Pg 104 – Vulnerability is about sending a real clear signal that you have weaknesses and could use help (Story of the crash landing)
  • Pg 107 – Vulnerability precedes trust
  • Pg 141 – The goal of an After Action Review is to establish a shared mental model that can be used in the future
  • Pg 157 – It’s hard to be empathetic while you’re talking
  • HOW TO BUILD VULNERABILITY (ACTIONS)
    • Pg 158 – Make sure the leader is vulnerable 1st and often
    • Pg 160 – Overcommunicate expectations
    • Pg 160 – Deliver negative feedback in person
    • Pg 161 – When forming new groups, focus on the first vulnerability and first disagreement
    • Pg 162 – Listen like a trampoline
    • Pg 163 – In conversation, resist the temptation to reflexively add value. Suggestions should be made after building a scaffolding of thoughtfulness.
    • Pg 164 – Use candor-generating practices like After Action Reviews, Brain Trusts, or Red Flagging meetings
    • Pg 165 – Aim for Candor, not Brutal Feedback
    • Pg 166 – Embrace the discomfort
    • Pg 166 – Align language with action
    • Pg 166 – Separate performance reviews from professional development
    • Pg 167 – Use flash mentoring
    • Pg 167 – Make the leader occasionally disappear 
  • Pg 163 – When. You ask a question, the first response you get is usually not the answer, it’s just the first response.
  • ESTABLISH PURPOSE
  • Pg 195 – Signals of successful groups
    • Framing
    • Roles – Team Consistently hears why their specific role is important
    • Rehersal
    • Encouragement to speak up
    • Active Reflection
  • Pg 199 – Success comes with consistent small signals that the team is aligned with the goal
  • Pg 210 – Creating engagement around a clear simple set of priorities can orient behavior and provide a path toward a goal.
  • Pg 211 – Slime mold shows us that a group can solve complex problems with a simple set of rules.
  • Pg 213 – Examples of heuristic phrases other groups have used to build purpose.
  • Pg 220 – Value the person or team over the idea.  Give the team the tools and environment they need.
  • Pg 223 – Pixar’s Catmull says, “Managing teams is a creative act, it’s problem solving…”
  • Pg 228 – High-purpose environments don’t descend on groups from on high, they are dug out of the ground, over and over as the group navigates its way, together.
  • HOW TO BUILD PURPOSE (ACTIONS)
    • Pg 229 – Name and rank your priorities
    • Pg 229 – Be 10 times more clear about your priorities than you think is needed
    • Pg 230 – Know when to aim for proficiency and when to aim for creativity
    • Pg 231 – Use simple, action oriented catch phrases
    • Pg 232 – Measure what really matters
    • Pg 232 – Use Artifacts
    • Pg 233 – Focus on Bar-setting behaviors – spotlight small, effortful behavior