What can whales teach us about company culture? Is in-person work always better than remote work? How can you build the right culture with the right people? Learn more about behavior, intent, and culture, then get ready to reflect on your employee experience.

1. Behavior, Intent, and Remote
Company Culture

2. • Sometimes studying animals can help
us better understand humans. In this
case, it's whales and culture.
• Notes Shane Gero, a scientist who
studies whales: "'Behavior’ is what
we do, and ‘culture’ is how we do it."
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3. • For example, most people eat using
utensils. That is behavior, but
whether you use forks or chopsticks
is culture, which is learned from
those around you.
• This is what we see in whales: their
offspring learn important skills and
knowledge from other whales.
• But there is a third, crucial factor
here: intent.
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4. • The intent of whales is certainly love,
survival, reproduction, and joy.
• In humans, intent is the difference
between misery or fulfillment,
and mistreatment or belonging,
especially in the workplace.
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5. • Culture is a buzzword for marketing a
company’s appeal: “We value culture
— we have a ping pong table!” or
“Here at Big Industry, Inc., we treat
everyone like family.” Cool!
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6. • Meanwhile, the ping pong table
collects dust while management
makes their employees feel small,
undervalued, or inferior. Not cool.
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7. Culture: Remote vs. In-Person

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• A culture’s intent is formed by the
people who make up that culture,
and what those people truly
value translates through virtual
spaces, as well as physical spaces.

9. • Simply spending time together does
not create a culture.
• Likewise, spending time apart does
not mean that culture withers.
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• In the worst-case scenario, sharing a
space in which people are
uncomfortable or stressed can
exacerbate challenging situations and
lead to a severe decline in employee
engagement, a drop in productivity,
and employee churn.

11. • In the best-case scenario, common
space can be a catalyst for new and
exciting opportunities as colleagues
bounce ideas off each other and
amplify one another's energy.
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• Technology enables virtually seamless
collaboration, and regular online
pulse checks can make it easy to keep
up with the sentiment of your
employees – wherever they are.

13. Show Me The Culture!

14. • Culture should never be treated like a
product to be sold. It is a way for
people to connect.
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15. • When you’re interviewing for a new
job, try to understand the
organization’s true culture, not just
the PR on the website.
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16. • Does this company have vision and
values? And do these ideas translate
to day-to-day operations?
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17. • While every company wants to look
their best during the interview, take a
critical approach to ensure that the
culture still looks good when — and if
— you decide to take the job.
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18. • What you do and how you do it is
equally as important as the meaning
behind it.
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19. • Just like with whales, whether you and
your pod are into hunting stingrays or
building widgets, it’s behavior and
intent that build your culture
organically.
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20. • If you’re navigating questionable
culture, it might be time to rock the
boat, abandon ship, or chart a new
course completely.
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21. Want more?
Binge watch… Read the full blog… Like some podcasts!

22. Have we met socially?

23. Thank you!