{"id":1455,"date":"2012-10-29T05:00:56","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T12:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2015-01-28T12:58:43","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T20:58:43","slug":"company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Shark Culture as Strategy at Harvard Business School"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few organizations are as effective at establishing a culture as the Harvard Business School — and it is very deliberate, intentional, and no accident. \u00a0I am back at Harvard Business School today and being here reminds me of the strategy and hard work the school performs to set a certain tone. \u00a0And, the company culture of Harvard Business School will probably surprise most people because it is opposite of what you may expect.<\/p>\n

Here are some things that the school very intentionally focuses on establishing in the culture of each class, each section, and at the school in general.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \"Company<\/a>No Sharks.<\/strong> \u00a0Disagreement and debate is the objective of the case method and classroom discussion, but it needs to be done respectfully and professionally to be effective. \u00a0To signal to someone that they were too aggressive or confrontational in their comments, most all HBS classes have a shark stuffed animal that fellow students toss at someone who crosses the line. \u00a0It is a friendly, fun way to give feedback to the aggressive types and help them keep things productive.<\/li>\n
  2. Everyone needs to participate — it is not cool for certain people to dominate.<\/strong> \u00a0In life and business, we need input from everyone to make the best decisions. \u00a0There is a deliberate strategy at HBS to encourage participation from everyone (your grade depends upon it) and to encourage the students to listen and glean wisdom from everyone.<\/li>\n
  3. Idea diversity leads to insight and learning.<\/strong> \u00a0There is value placed on a diversity of comments and observations and an active attempt to get different ideas into the discussion. \u00a0I was always delighted with the diversity of comments and thoughts. \u00a0Having such diverse good ideas makes you a little more humble that there are plenty of good ideas in addition to your ideas.<\/li>\n
  4. Helping others is key.<\/strong> \u00a0HBS indoctrinates you that everyone has an obligation to share ideas and offer explanation or assistance to your fellow classmates. \u00a0It is a recognition that no one gets anywhere alone. \u00a0And, teaching someone something is the best way to make sure you learn it yourself. \u00a0Our comments were graded on how helpful they were in assisting others in their learning.<\/li>\n
  5. Open discussion of “norms”.<\/strong> \u00a0The school had us actively discuss the “norms” that we wanted our classes to have — how we wanted to be treated, how we wanted to treat others, etc. \u00a0It made us actively think about the culture of the school and help get us all aligned like in a company culture.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While I do not remember the details now, I remember being amazed at the activities, hints, discussions, speeches, etc. organized by the school that were aimed at indoctrinating us into the culture of the school. \u00a0It was not an accident. \u00a0The culture was deliberately designed to establish the optimal environment for learning and for teaching the all-important soft skills of behavior that are important for success in school and after school.<\/p>\n

    \n
    Categories:Culture Is Strategic<\/a><\/span>
    Tags:    Company Culture<\/a>, Culture<\/a>, Culture as Strategy<\/a>, Harvard Business School<\/a>, HR<\/a>, Human Resources<\/a>, Leadership<\/a>, Strategy<\/a>, Teamwork<\/a>
    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Few organizations are as effective at establishing a culture as the Harvard Business School — and it is very deliberate, intentional, and no accident. \u00a0I am back at Harvard Business School today and being here reminds me of the strategy and hard work the school… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[194,41,195,68,40,82,62,31,83],"yoast_head":"\nCompany Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Company Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/No-Sharks.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@masonlmyers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@masonlmyers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mason Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/\",\"name\":\"Company Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-29T12:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-28T20:58:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/efbf4e28b9f46a9b2ae855d03197ab3f\"},\"description\":\"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Anti-Shark Culture as Strategy at Harvard Business School\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/\",\"name\":\"Mason Myers Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/efbf4e28b9f46a9b2ae855d03197ab3f\",\"name\":\"Mason Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87932f33f3b27a6574032d65b17644d1?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87932f33f3b27a6574032d65b17644d1?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mason Myers\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/author\/mason-myers\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Company Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors","description":"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Company Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors","twitter_description":"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/No-Sharks.png","twitter_creator":"@masonlmyers","twitter_site":"@masonlmyers","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mason Myers","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/","url":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/","name":"Company Culture, Strategy | Harvard Business School | Mason Myers Business Blog for Owners, Investors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-29T12:00:56+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-28T20:58:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/efbf4e28b9f46a9b2ae855d03197ab3f"},"description":"Business owner and investor Mason Myers discusses the influence of company culture & strategy at Harvard Business School on his business blog, masonmyers.com.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/company-culture-as-strategy-harvard-business-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anti-Shark Culture as Strategy at Harvard Business School"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/","name":"Mason Myers Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/efbf4e28b9f46a9b2ae855d03197ab3f","name":"Mason Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87932f33f3b27a6574032d65b17644d1?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87932f33f3b27a6574032d65b17644d1?s=96&r=g","caption":"Mason Myers"},"url":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/author\/mason-myers\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3148,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/3148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}