Celebrate!

“We work hard at X to make it safe to fail. They get applause from their peers, hugs and high-fives from their manager, me in particular. They get promoted for it. We have bonused every single person on teams that ended their projects, from teams as small as two to teams of more than 30… The first time I stood a team at X up on stage in front of everyone and said, ‘This team has done more to further innovation at X by ending their project than any one of you sitting in your seats has done in the last quarter.’ There was an uncomfortable silence. So then I say, ‘We're giving them all bonuses for having ended their project.’ All those people sitting in the seats are feeling even more like, ‘Wait, what?’ Then I say, ‘Hey, guys, take a vacation. And when you get back, the world is your oyster. Find some new project to jump into.’ And everyone thinks I've lost my mind.”

Astro Teller is the head of Google X, also known as “the moonshot factory.” He told Guy Raz over at NPR how he established a culture that values intelligent failure at the requisite means of innovation. “By the tenth time I did that (at X), no one even thinks about it. (Failed teams) just get a standing ovation every time. I don't even have to say the speech anymore because it's part of the culture now.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things organizations celebrate, and how they are a reflection of the behaviors they value. Celebration is almost certainly an underutilized tactic in driving behavior change, compared to other incentives.

Jeff Bezos famously instituted the “Just Do It” award at Amazon, “an acknowledgment of an employee who did something notable on his own initiative, typically outside his primary job responsibilities.” Importantly, “Even if the action turned out to be an egregious mistake, an employee you could still earn the prize as long as he or she had taken risks and shown resourcefulness in the process… Bezos would eventually acquire a pair of size 21 Nike sneakers from former Northwestern University basketball player Dan Kreft, who worked at Amazon as an engineer. Those ratty shoes, and the successors that Kreft periodically supplied, became the prize.” That’s not the only example of weird awards at Amazon; there’s also “the Door-Desk award, given to an employee who came up with ‘a well-built idea that helps us to deliver lower prices to customers’ — the prize was a door-desk ornament. Bezos was once again looking for ways to reinforce his values within the company.” (Quotes from Brad Stone’s fantastic The Everything Store)

It doesn’t have to be something weird (but bonus points if it is!). 3M hosts its own celebration of discovery in the annual gatherings that showcase innovative ideas. Per this Fast Company piece, “Once a year, about 200 employees from dozens of divisions make cardboard posters describing their 15 percent time project as if they were presenting volcano models at a middle school science fair. They stand up their poster, then hang out next to it, awaiting feedback, suggestions, and potential co-collaborators. Wayne Maurer is an R&D manager in 3M’s abrasives division and calls it a chance for people to unhinge their ‘inner geek.’ He elaborates: ‘For technical people, it’s the most passionate and engaged event we have at 3M.’”

What these examples all show — whether at Google X, Amazon, or 3M — is that public ceremony reinforces organizational values, especially when those values run contrary to conventional business rules.

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