Everyone thinks they know what culture is until they actually have to write it down. You’ve seen the posters in the breakroom. "Integrity." "Innovation." "Teamwork." Honestly, those words are basically invisible. They’re background noise. If you want to know how to define a culture, you have to stop looking at what people say and start looking at what they do when things go wrong. Culture isn't a mission statement; it’s the collective muscle memory of an organization.
It’s messy. It’s the way people talk to each other in Slack when a deadline is missed. It’s whether the CEO actually eats lunch in the common area or hides in a corner office.
Most people get this totally wrong because they treat culture like a branding exercise. It’s not. It’s an operating system. If you try to "install" a culture that doesn't match your actual behaviors, the system crashes. Every single time.
The big lie about "Company Values"
We need to talk about Enron. Their lobby literally had "Integrity" etched into the floor. We all know how that ended. This is the biggest hurdle when you're trying to figure out how to define a culture that actually sticks. Most "defined" cultures are just aspirational wish lists. They represent who the leadership wishes they were, not who they are on a Tuesday morning at 8:00 AM.
Patty McCord, the former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, famously helped write the "Netflix Culture Memo." It didn't use flowery language. It was blunt. It talked about "the keeper test"—basically, if an employee said they were leaving, would the manager fight to keep them? If not, they got a severance package. It sounds harsh to some, but it was honest. That is a defined culture. It’s specific. It’s polarizing.
If your definition of culture applies to every company on earth, you haven't defined anything. You’ve just listed "being a decent human," which is the bare minimum, not a competitive advantage.
Why your "Why" is probably too vague
Simon Sinek made the "Start with Why" concept famous, and while he’s right, people tend to over-intellectualize it. Your "Why" shouldn't be a philosophical dissertation. It should be a gut feeling. When you look at how to define a culture, you’re looking for the "unwritten rules."
Think about it this way:
In some companies, you’re rewarded for being "bold" and "disruptive." In others, that same behavior gets you fired because the culture prizes "consensus" and "stability." Neither is objectively wrong, but they are different operating systems. You can't run Mac software on a Windows machine.
How to define a culture by watching the "Shadow"
There’s this concept in psychology called the "Shadow"—the parts of ourselves we don't want to admit exist. Companies have them too. To truly define your culture, you have to look at the shadow.
- Who gets promoted? Not who is supposed to get promoted, but who actually gets the corner office? Is it the person who works 80 hours a week, or the person who builds the best relationships?
- What is punished? Is it okay to fail on a big project, or do people start pointing fingers the second a metric dips into the red?
- How are decisions made? Is it the Loudest Person in the Room (LPITR) or is it data-driven?
If you want to define your culture, start by interviewing the newest person and the person who has been there the longest. Ask them: "What’s the one thing you can do here that would get you in trouble immediately?" Their answers will tell you more than any HR handbook ever could.
The "Behavior over Belief" framework
Ben Horowitz, in his book What You Do Is Who You Are, argues that culture is a set of actions, not beliefs. He uses the example of Toussaint Louverture, who led the Haitian Revolution. Louverture didn't just tell his soldiers to be disciplined; he created specific rules—like forbidding officers from having concubines—to distinguish his army from the undisciplined forces they were fighting.
He changed the culture by changing the requirements of the job.
When you sit down to define your culture, stop using adjectives. Start using verbs. Instead of "We are collaborative," try "We seek feedback from at least two departments before finalizing a product roadmap." One is a vibe. The other is a rule.
The trap of "Culture Fit"
We’ve all heard it. "They just weren't a culture fit."
Kinda feels like a cop-out, doesn't it? Often, "culture fit" is just code for "this person isn't like us," which is a fast track to a boring, stagnant company. If you’re figuring out how to define a culture, you should be looking for "culture add."
What is your culture missing?
If your culture is all about speed and "breaking things," maybe you need a culture add who values "precision" and "longevity." Defining your culture shouldn't be about building a wall to keep people out; it’s about building a foundation so you know who can help you grow.
Putting it into words (The hard part)
So, you’re ready to write it down. You’re staring at a blank Google Doc. How do you actually do it?
First, kill the jargon. "Synergy" is dead. "Pivot" is tired. Use the language your team actually uses at the bar after work. If your team is informal and uses slang, your culture definition should too. If you’re a high-stakes law firm, keep it crisp.
Secondly, embrace the trade-offs.
A real culture definition acknowledges what you are not. If you value "Speed over Perfection," you are explicitly saying that you’re okay with some mistakes. You can't have both. You can't be the cheapest and the highest quality. You can't be the most innovative and the most risk-averse.
Choosing one means sacrificing the other. That’s what makes a culture real. It’s a choice.
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Real-world examples of defined cultures
- Valve (The gaming company): They literally have a handbook for new employees that explains they have no bosses. They define their culture by the fact that you move your desk (it has wheels) to whatever project you think is most important.
- Patagonia: Their culture is defined by their "Let My People Go Surfing" policy. It’s not just a cute saying; it’s a functional part of their work-life philosophy that emphasizes environmentalism and personal freedom over rigid 9-to-5 structures.
- Zappos: They used to offer new hires $2,000 to quit after the first week. Why? Because they wanted to ensure that the people who stayed weren't there for a paycheck, but because they actually bought into the "Customer Service First" culture.
Actionable steps to define your culture right now
Forget the off-site retreat at a fancy hotel. You don't need a whiteboard and a "facilitator" to do this. You just need honesty.
The "Stop, Start, Continue" Audit Gather a cross-functional group. Not just managers. Get the people doing the actual work. Ask three questions:
- What are we doing that is actively hurting our ability to work together? (Stop)
- What is something we do naturally that makes us successful? (Continue)
- What is one behavior we admire in other companies that we lack? (Start)
Write the "Anti-Values" This is a fun one. Define what your culture is not. If you say you value "Transparency," then your anti-value is "Private Slack channels for decision-making." If you value "Autonomy," your anti-value is "Micro-management of lunch breaks." By defining the boundaries of what is unacceptable, the "correct" culture becomes much clearer.
The Ritual Test Cultures are built on rituals. Do you have a weekly "f*** up of the week" meeting where people share mistakes? That’s a ritual that defines a culture of psychological safety. Do you have a "Rookie of the Month"? That defines a culture of performance. Look at your existing rituals. If they don't match your defined culture, kill the rituals or change the definition.
Codify the Legend Every company has "The Story." The time the founder stayed up all night to fix a bug. The time a customer service rep drove three hours to deliver a lost suitcase. These stories are your culture. Write them down. Share them. They are much more powerful than a list of bullet points.
Defining a culture is a living process. It’s never "done." As you scale from 5 people to 50, and 50 to 500, the culture will change. It has to. The goal isn't to keep it frozen in amber; it's to make sure the core—the soul of the place—doesn't get lost in the noise of growth. If you can't describe your culture to a stranger in 30 seconds without using a single buzzword, you don't have a defined culture yet. You just have a job.
Go back to the basics. Look at the behavior. Look at the trade-offs. Write it in plain English. That’s how you define a culture that actually matters.
Your Next Steps
- Audit your Slack/Internal comms: Search for the last three times someone was praised. What specifically did they do? Those are your real values.
- Kill one "dead" value: Find a word in your current mission statement that nobody can define. Delete it today.
- Draft a "Culture Add" list: Write down three personality traits or skills your current team is missing that would make the culture stronger. Use this for your next hire.