Not long after joining Facebook, I decided to have lunch with a group of engineers. As I got closer, I saw them having a heated debate. One of them came up with an idea for a new feature that he was sure would change the world, others were less convinced. "I can't imagine myself using it in a million years," countered one. As I sat down, he gestured to me and asked, "How do you feel, Julie?" Several people turned towards me. "Uh..." I took a sip of the soup and secretly thought how I could exit gracefully without casting a decisive vote, since I was completely ignorant of the topic.
Luckily, someone chimed in at this point: "Okay, why don't you just build this feature first and let's see?" "Yeah." Another voice agreed, "Let's talk about it at the next hackathon ’” That’s
when I learned that a hackathon is a well-known company tradition where the goal is to get people together to spend a few hours prototyping a great idea they’ve come up with. Whether you're alone or with a few others, you're free to do whatever you think is good for the company. Hackathons require a lot of energy from the participants, and it often lasts into the wee hours of the morning, until you're done beckoning colleagues over to see a live, running version of your idea developed.
Hackathons have spawned some well-known and successful products - chat, video, etc. What’s more, it’s a fun way to work, bringing people together to form Facebook’s first concrete values: “Be bold” and “Move fast.”
Ritual is powerful. Beyond chants or speeches, ceremonies often involve actions that team members can focus on, and through, those actions, everyone becomes stronger.
One of the things CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been doing for more than 10 years is to hold an internal Q&A every Friday afternoon, and anyone in the company can ask him any question, and he will answer honestly. These questions could be about the future direction of Facebook, recent decisions Mark has made, company policies, or even Mark's personal opinion on the latest news. Some of these questions can be very straightforward, such as: "This seems like a bad idea, so why are we doing this?"
In a large company like Facebook, the CEO has thousands of things to juggle. However, Mark still insists on standing in front of everyone every week and answering any questions they have. Why is this? Because the biggest value that Facebook promotes is openness. If he doesn't set an example, others won't believe it matters.
As a leader, building culture may not be at the top of your mind. You may dream about changing the world, or outline a general strategy that will allow you to achieve your goals. But success or failure is not usually the result of a few far-reaching decisions. Instead, how far you go will depend on the actions your team takes in the day-to-day chores—how people treat each other; how you solve problems together; what you're willing to give up in order to live up to your values .
Pay attention to your words and deeds—the little things you say and do—and what you approve of or disagree with. It all shows what you care about and how you think a great team should work together.
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