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
Three things...
Trust... Can really feel the importance of that, is is at the heart of 7cups. Without trust, people would definitely be at a bit of a loss.
Strength based - I really like this. As the big five and personality tests showed us, everyone is so different, unique. We have such a high diversity at 7cuos and I feel it's that that makes our community so strong, everyone brings something to it.
Expecting failure... Feels such a great sense of understanding and acceptance. It takes off the pressure of being 'perfect'.
Lovely guide, so well written and so true of 7cups 💕
I think taking care of yourself, trust, and empathy are so important. Taking care of yourself is important because you don't have to feel like you have to always come on here and talk to someone. Sometimes life happens and we can't always be on here and that is okay. You come first. Trust is important because you need to trust yourself and if something doesn't feel right especially on here either refer to the member or if you are in a group chat leave. And lastly empathy I feel like empathy is so important because it makes the member feel like you have been there and that they aren't crazy. Sometimes mentioning what has helped you in certain situations is more beneficial.
@GlenM
1. I learnt that 7 cups core value deals with support and care for people with fewer resources and financial sources to take care of their mental health
2. 7 cup believes in High Expectations and High Warmth wherein the community supports us and encourages us to do better than what we think we are capable, and if not, we owe to our accountability and our sense of responsibility to seek support and improve on it . Our community believe in collective effort and is ready to help each other
3. Solving problems that matter and helps in creating a world better than before
@GlenM
please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
1- What we do is important and matters. Our efforts make a difference.
2- Failure is not bad at all. It just teaches you more than you knew before.
3- Give it your best. Give it your all.
@GlenM
I learnt that a strong trust is beneficial in today's world. It helps to improve relations.
I learner about taking responsibility for my act. It helps me in my career path as well.
learnt that it's okay to be dependent on others. Because a successful community exists only as the members trusts and depends on each other.
@GlenM
1. I have learned that , the work we are doing is important. We are making the world a
better place, just by letting others know we care and we are there for
them.
2. working hard and not being distracted which is the most important point in every team platform
3. trust which is needed before starting any work.
@GlenM
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.
1. What we do here in 7 Cups is important because we help to improve the community.
2. Failure is the pillar of success, because if we never fail, we will not learn anything.
3. We should spread kindness, because it makes others feel welcome, builds trust, and allows people to open up.
@GlenM
- Trust, as 7Cups trusts us and we trust them back, it keeps us progressing, carry on accountability in order to do the work as best as we possibly can.
- Self-care, the person who is working at 7Cups and the person who is living in real life, are the same person. Not taking self-care seriously can cause poor outcomes.
- Problem solving, 7Cups primarily focuses on solving problems, and helping their team learn how to solve problems, starting with smaller ones, which doesn't only reflect on 7Cups only, but also help us learn how to solve problems in real life.
@GlenM
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.
1. "7 Cups now supports over 1.3 million people a month [as of August 2017]. Active listeners provide support in 191 countries and in 152 languages." - I was aware that 7 Cups reached people on the other side of the globe, but seeing the impact in numerical figures is even more heart warming. This is important to me because this means I have an even wider audience to positively influence and support.
2. "7 Cups reaches and supports over a million people each month. The vast majority of the people we care for do not have a lot of money." - Again, not only was I unaware of how widespread 7 Cups has reached, but it's definitely surprising to see how many people we support in just one month. This is important because while supporting these many people in one month, it makes me always operate at my most compassionate and in "7 Cups Culture" every time I reach a Member. One day makes a difference, imagine one month operating in this system!
3. Taking the big 5 test was the most informative and beneficial because it helps me remember the best ways to apply myself in my "system".
@GlenM
+highlight 3 things learned from the guide and why they are important:
^ high expectations and high warmth: It is important to me because it has allowed the 7 cups team to be accountable and be able to perform to the best of their ability. They strive to deliver to the highest number of people they can all while being most positive and supportive.
^ solving problems that matter: It develops the individual's ability to be proactive but at the same time failure is nothing to worry about.
^ a belief in equality: 7 cups delivers to people all over the globe that come from many backgrounds and worldviews. This introduced me to varied and different cultures.
