Understanding 7 Cups Culture (LDP Discussion #5)
Please note: In order to successfully complete Course 1, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/shows that you completed the given activity. Read the post carefully and follow the instructions given. Save your responses to a document that you can later refer to. You will need to copy/paste your response in the course evaluation form at the end of each course to show that you have done the work and to refresh your memory.
-
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.
2. Take the leadership oath here
3. Fill out the End of Trial form to complete your trial!
4. Proceed to Course 2!
This post is brought to you by the Leadership Development Program Team, find out more information about the program here.
@GlenM
The three things I learnt are
1) My work here is important. The quality of my work has a direct impact on somone and so I need to bring my A-game
2) I am supported on this platform. All the listeners and mentors on 7cups are trained to support me and offer a helping hand
3) FAILURE ISNT THE END OF THE WORLD! Failure is expected and seen as a positive especially when you're focused on your work!
@pizzaiscool
Heya, Pizza! Every little thing you do on here is important to someone, somewhere! Definitely need to do your best to have the most influence, for sure. I love how you said "Failure is expected and seen as apositive especially when you're focused on your work"- that's such a unique perspective and one many of us need to think about! To me, failing means you're trying, and that's awesome. Keep at it. :)
@rebecca947
Hey! I saw it in one of the guides and it really stood out to me. we live in a world where we avoid failure like the plague so it was nice to read about how its a postituve sign on here!
@GlenM
3 important things I learned from the guide is that it's ok to fail, trust lets you grow, and helping others will not just help them but will help you. These 3 things are important to me because these are key things life is based off on, and 7 Cups lets you understand that and they have their own mission-based off of these key things.
I learned about my strengths, my weaknessness, and that I should develop a system so i can regularly acheive my goals of becoming a better person.
@GlenM
The first most important thing I learnt is that the work I do here matters because there can be times where you doubt yourself and your skills so it feels nice to be reassured that what I'm doing is actually worth it and it's an important reminder for myself that there are so many people who felt better because of me.
The next thing important to me is that 7 Cups is high expectations and high warmth. It's important to me because I've been part of online communities which were too driven and lacked love and warmth. A community is supposed to be a place where progress is made on a professional level but along with that all the people who are working on it and all others who are a part of it must feel included and appreciated.
The last thing which is of significance for me is trust. The amount of trust we all put in each other for anything, from getting a work done to managing some projects on a larger level is admirable. It is if importance because lack of trust generally is unhealthy for a community where everyone works as a team and the most crucial element in teamwork is trust. If you don't trust your teammates, then the game wouldn't last too long. It'll all be a huge mess.
1. That we need to take care of ourselves. For example, to sleep good, exercise, eat well, stay hydrated, surround ourselves with loving people, take breaks, ask for help and face our personal problems. 7 Cups has programs for all of the above. In order for us to perform well at work, we need to also take good care of ourselves when we are not at work.
7cups believes in equality. Every person is treated with equal respect, enjoys equal freedom, and equal rights irrespective of the gender orientation, race, religion, or any other difference.
That not everyone will be a good fit. 7cups works hard to help us grow, discover strengths, and find work that is meaningful within their team or community. However, if they are unable to do that, then they will ask us to transition out sooner rather than later. Keeping someone on board for a longer period of time only makes it more challenging when they eventually transition out.
@kateaala
Thoughtful response!
@Glen M
please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
There are 3 most important things that I learned about 7 cups of tea community:
- 7 Cups is based on trust. Trust enables people to open up, rely on and connect the community.
- With trust, come with great expectation and high warm. 7 cups encourage me to grow along the way in a warm and welcome environment. However, it also expecting member to upskill and help others as well as take care of your self.
- Equality: ' we believe that every single person is valuable'. Everyone is matter and have equal respect. 7 cups embrace diversity, that is the key solution to variable perspective and understanding.
@GlenM
The 3 most important things you learned from the guide:
1- Take care of yourself. Sometimes i am so caught up in my emotions that i forget (or think that i do not deserve) to take care of myself.
2- Equality. Every person matters 
3- Failure. It's important to always remember that failure is temporary. It's not what defines our capabilities.
@GlenM
Please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
1) Compassion is king and our priority - only then can we be true to ourselves and truly be of help to others.
2) Support and collaboration - they make what we do here so much easier, effective and succesful.
3) Kindness and respect - they are (or should be) a part of us all, and drive our personal growth forward.
@GlenM
I like how you say that every single person is valuable, and that you like leaders who can be trusted and who don't make excuses. I like how you say that we are all accountable. I especially like how 7 Cups caters for people who do not have money. Your analogy of personal and company petrol tanks seems interesting.
1. I learnt that it's ok to fail as long as you tried. Failures not only indicate what you could've done differently next time, but it also teaches you to not give up. You will fail many times in life, but in the end, it is also failures that can improve you as a whole.
2. Taking care of myself is important. To take care of others, you need to take care of yourself first and this includes taking breaks, enjoying yourself and working when necessary. All areas of health must be taken care of in order to maintain a happy life and achieve your goals.
3. Equality is also an important thing that I learnt. Everyone deserves fair opportunities and recognition no matter who they are. Everyone is unique and should be valued because afterall, we are all humans.
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Well written!