A Culture That Attracts and Retains Top Employees Starts With You

Here’s a riddle for you:

There are four seagulls sitting on the dock. Three decide to leave. How many seagulls are left?

Answer: Four.

Why?

Because deciding to leave and leaving are two different things. In your business, when it comes to building a culture that rocks, it’s a lot like the seagulls. Lots of people talk about it, but few actually do. So, I wrote “Worth Doing Wrong,” the book about my experience with culture. It’s not a “how to” book, but more of a “how to think” book. Not a book where you can follow a formula, but rather one designed to create a path for building YOUR culture that will fuel YOUR business toward YOUR goals.

When you read it, you will formulate ideas. When you take these ideas back to your committee, board, partner, or team members, they will proceed to give you eighteen to twenty four reasons why your ideas are not going to work. Don’t listen. Don’t end up like the seagulls on the dock.

Accept the fact that you will have to implement some bad ideas to get to some good ones. Everyone told me that paying people to read was stupid. Everyone. Now the same people are saying, “Oh yes, I always thought that was a good idea.” BS. New ideas are laughed at, scoffed at, undermined, and often sabotaged vigorously… right up until the point when they are finally accepted. As a business owner, you need the conviction to say, “I’m going to try stuff that other people tell me is stupid because (cheap plug for the book) it’s worth doing wrong.”

Whenever I talk to a group about Camel Culture, there’s usually at least one guy in the audience who refuses to accept that “culture reflects leadership.” This type of person says, “That won’t work for us. Only successful companies do that,” Of course, to his detriment, this person is right.

“Worth Doing Wrong” is a short, easy read with pictures. If you’re thinking about cracking it open, I’m happy to extend you the following guarantee: If you find no value, insight, or inspiration from doing something wrong, I’ll gladly pay you $20 to tell me why.

Get it, read it, share it… and find a way to change your culture, in your business and your life.