Understanding 7 Cups Culture (LDP Discussion #5)
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Hello Leadership Crew!
We are wrapping up the first course today with our last discussion on culture. Look for more instructions in this post to take the final evaluation for the course to your graduation. Once you have this course complete, you will be 20% done the Leadership Development Program. Good work!
Let's start by looking at the wikipedia definition of culture:
--Culture (/ÃkÃltÃÃr/) is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.[1]
We take culture seriously on 7 Cups because it is the heart of how we operate. A wise person once said: You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are. We can have all of the best training content we want, but if our culture is not strong, then we will not be successful in growing a thriving, compassionate, community that will make a global impact.
Every organization has a culture whether by design or by default. When culture (including values and mission are not called out or made explicit, the organization defaults to an implicit or unstated culture. The unnamed culture is not always great for the end users or the community. An example of a common and implicit cultural rule or norm is that the person that makes the most money or the organization is the most important. People that work in this organization then, naturally, because it is the culture, start organizing themselves around ways to make more and more money. The ones at the top of the hierarchy are the ones that make the most money. 7 Cups cares less about money and more about compassion. We call out compassion and celebrate compassionate people because that is central to the work we do.
Please read our guide here to deeply understand our culture. We have made it explicit because we believe it is important to help us all be accountable to what we stand for and believe in. As leaders on 7 Cups, you will be models that emulate our culture and values.
One theme you'll notice in our guide is that it is very proactive, which is the opposite of reactive. We act first, we design first, we implement first in order to make an impact. Companies that react allow events to shape them; we instead try to focus on where we can have influence and shape events before they shape our community.
Part of being proactive is critical because building culture online is more challenging than building a culture offline. Offline interpersonal and group relationships are easier in a number of ways. People are generally much better behaved when they are right in front of you and it is easier for people to sync up and work towards a common goal. Online cultures have less of these natural strengths so you have to be extra proactive to build a strong culture. Look at most communities on the Internet. Unfortunately, they tend to devolve and become less than safe places with a lot of hate, sexual, and harmful behaviors. Our training system, the badges, word filters, moderators, etc. (dozens of behaviors we do) are all designed to proactively build and reinforce our culture so that we do not experience this same kind of entropy. Internet culture can be like an escalator going down. You have to be very proactive and take 2 or 3 steps up at a time to maintain and strengthen gains. As a leader on 7 Cups, you will be part of that group that gets behind us and enables us to continue making forward momentum.
That provides the broader background context to why we care so much about our culture and values at 7 Cups. They are core to our work.
To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
After posting, please...
1. Take the course exam here to complete course 1.
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4. Proceed to Course 2!
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@GlenM
3 of the most important things I've learned from the guide is that
1) as a team, we are all accountable for everything that occurs at 7 cups. We need to seek assistance and feedback when we are struggling with our performance, that way we can do better next time. We do our best when we seek help, since everyone is responsible for our mission, whether individually or together. This is important to me because not only does this apply to myself as a 7 cups member, it also applies to me as a student, at work, at even in my personal life. For instance, as a student, not only should I be asking for feedback on how to do better, I should also focus on helping other classmates as well, such as with homework help, etc.
2) fulfilling work means that it is work that I am good at, it is work that is interesting to me, and it is work that solves an important problem/meets an important goal. This is a meaningful message to me, especially when I am pursuing my career. This is important for me to keep in mind while I am on my journey in choosing and pursuing my dream career.
3) that it is more important that we work on our strengths rather than our weaknesses. The guide explains how when we operate on our strengths, we feel good, we feel fulfilled, and allows us to fit flow states, ultimately leading to more effective and productive performance. As I mentioned above, I could use this to both my education and career. For instance, rather than focusing on my weaknesses (e.g. public speaking, group collaboration, etc.), I should be focusing on my strengths in order to become successful but in my academics and future career.
@GlenM
Please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
Learning to trust ourselves more and continuously grow more confident is known as self-efficacy and happens through stacking up wins.
Failure is nothing to be scared of and it is nothing to worry about as long as we are focused and trying.
Trust allows us to personally grow and reach our mission. Trust reduces friction, enables decentralized work, and results in much faster progress.
I would like to implement all of the principles in my personal and professional life.
Please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
The 3 important things that I learned are:
1. MY WORK MATTERS - I am here to create a difference and by taking conversations with members, working alongside then to give a better outlook makes a difference.
2. Accountability- We are hold accountable for everything we do which strives us to do better and maintain our standards and not steer away from our goals.
3. Trust - Trust is an important factor both in life ,and community in 7cups. An integral part ,Trust helps in understanding and maintaining decorum and expectations.
@GlenM
1. This work is important
2. We never fail, we always learn
3. try your best
@GlenM
1. Equality is important.
2. Being kind
3. Working hard
@GlenM
please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
-From the 'We Expect Failure' point, I learnt to keep trying even after failing.
-I learnt from the 'Self-Efficacy or Mastery' point that a person with high self-efficacy views challenges as things that are supposed to be mastered rather than threats to avoid.
-Not every one will be a good fit is the other valuable lesson that I learnt.
@GlenM
A lot of people have chosen Trust as one of the primary factors and I'm not one to follow the herd but in this case, it's much agreeable what an important role Trust plays in what we do or how our organization treats us.
Secondly, 'We Expect Failure' is the next one that caught my attention. It's amazing to see how liberal this community is in terms of uplifting people in an event of failure. I believe this has been one of the most important part of 7Cups
You Have a Gas Tank and 7 Cups Has a Gas Tank - The transparency in communication of core values where there's a mutual acknowledgement of boundaries from both sides (Participant and the community). Terms seem clear where expectations have been set for both parties and this really helps in building a long term community.
The three most important things I learned:
1. Trust: Trust is the most essential thing in our community, Trust allows everyone to personally grow and gain kuch more insight.
2. Kindness: I believe it has its own power, there are a lot of kind people jn the world if you can't find one, be one
3. Work matters: No matter if my work is big or small as far as I'm commited to it and enjoy it things are good. It is an honor to be here.
Please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
1. 7 Cups is a safe, open community to support me in accomplishing my goals. The people here are more than happy to embrace me for who I am and I know that I'll never be alone in my self-discovery journey here on 7 Cups.
2. 7 Cups embraces the concept of setting appropriate goals and constructing achievable timeframes. This is particularly important to me as I'm a high-achieving individual who is prone to burning myself out without a specific timeline. Hence, I find this immensely helpful in aiding me to visualize sustainable long-term and short-term goals I wish to achieve during my time here at 7 Cups.
3. 7 Cups encourages listeners and members to take care of themselves - a value I rarely practise. It's crucial that we stay competent and capable as if we can't help ourselves, how could we be expected to help others? I learned the importance of practising self-care and the benefits that come with good self-care routines.
@GlenM