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.
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1 I think trust would help 7 cups grow and to reach where it wants to be. Being able to trust people help each team member would do what they said they would do. It also makes a postive working place. A place where they do no trust thier co workers can lead to a toxic and disfuctional place.
2 failure. I think failure is necessary to become a better person and leader. Life is all. About learning , growing and become a better person. If you failure you could also ask for feedback to how to improve next time.
3 trying hard. Trying hard is makes other people see you as a hard worker and some one who can be counted on. Hard fork pays off at the end if you want a higher role.
@Goldenbutterflyofhope
Absolutely! My CCA teacher always says the cycle of growth consists of failure and trying harder. It's interesting to me that almost every reply I've seen has mentioned trust. Trust is obviously a huge part of our community.
@Goldenbutterflyofhope
I agree with you. You have rightly pointed out the importance of trust, failure and trying hard. I wish you the best in your journey ahead.
The three most important things that I learned from the guide are:
1) Trust is the superpower of 7 Cups. The ability of a person to trust others and vice-versa is the most powerful aspect that increases the effectiveness of the work we do.
2) The importance of keeping high expectations from others while being friendly to them (or giving them warmth) increases trust. When a friend 'A' keep high expectation from someone 'B', then the person 'B' feels being valued and this increases the trust of 'B' in 'A' and vice-versa.
3) The importance of conscientiousness. It is being rightly mentioned in the guide that the quality of conscientiousness is the single biggest indicator of success. It increases trust as a person who is highly conscientiousness can be trusted to work hard and get the job done.
Also, It has been really important for the trainees to read about the harmful behaviours that can decrease the 'gas tank' of 7 Cups.
@shiningSound31
I definitely agree. Your example of high expectations and high warmth is great. I think gas tank analogy is very helpful as well.
@PinkPizzaz
I learned that being proactive is key. That we cannot sit around and wait for something negative to happen, we have to learn to predict what may happen and be 2-3 steps ahead of it, if possible. For example we use our censors, and while a lot of times the censors are very annoying, they are there to help make sure that 1-1 conversations remain safe and supportive. This is important to me because I want 7cups to remain a safe and supportive environment for me and the millions of other users. I want to be proud to call myself a volunteer on this site, and doing that depends on the quality of the safety and support that is provided for everyone involved.
I took the survey about strengths and was actually relatively surprised by what it said my biggest strengths were, or at least the order of them. They were ones I wouldnt usually list as top strengths, but I can definitely see them as strengths. The categories of strengths that scored the highest for me were justice and wisdom. The strength that was the highest was fairness. I think this will help contribute to my work as a strong leader because to keep the site supportive and safe for everyone it is important to be fair with all we do. Expectations, guidelines, and even consequences. Being fair increases the sense of trust that members and listeners have toward leaders.
Also, the culture of expecing failure really stood out to me because failure is hard to accept. But if we can learn to learn from failure then we can be even better than we ever imagined. I think my #3 strength (love of learning) will suit me will for this culture. I dont like failing and I have a hard time with it, but it will do me well to remember that if I want to learn to fly sometimes Im going to fall and thats okay, as long as I get up and learn from my mistakes. This is going to take some major work on my end with self-confidence in the face of failure, but if I can master it here, I can master it in my personal life as well and then Ill be unstoppable when I set my mind to something.
@InvaderStitch
Stitchy! I love that you mentioned proactivity, it is so important. We have to be the action seeker. I love how you gave examples to all your points to highlight them in an actionable way and tie them in with values. You have such a unique sense of writing that I adore. For failure, as I have said to myself and others- every opportunity is a learning experience. Learning definitely includes failing and being taught a lesson from it, so we can improve our future. <3
@GlenM
1. Everyone's work matters, when all of them come together, we can achieve something huge.
2. Trust and warmth is key to what we do on 7cups.
3. Focusing effort on problems that matter instead of every single one, put your strength to work on the meaningful things.
@SophieWX
I think you've got it.
@SophieWX
You have wonderfully pointed out the important aspects of the culture of 7 Cups in a succinct manner. I wish you the best in your journey ahead.
The three biggest things I learned from the guide are:
Being negative, mean, or treating others badly drains your tank. This is very interesting. I like the thought of that because it implies that all human beings feel better when they are kind, generous, and positive. Just a thought.
We have high expectations AND high warmth. This is very important because it means we are constantly growing and improving while still being kind and supportive. I was actually thinking about how other communities who don't have both of these don't grow as well. If you think about it this way you can see the differences between 7cups and others and how it affects their communities.
We're all here for each for other. That are plenty of members of the community who want to help and support you. I think that's pretty important.
@PinkPizzaz
Hey, Pizzaz! I love your username haha I love the first one you brought up, I think your thought is definitely spot on correct.
@PinkPizzaz
Thoughtful answer :)
@PinkPizzaz The conclusion is indeed important. It's very relieving to have someone to lean on. I'm grateful to be in a community that I can ofer and receive support! :)
The 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you?
~ 1. Online Culture Building is no easy job and we need to be real serious to make it a success and continue the same.
2. We save lives through every single small thing we do here on a positive note. Directly or indirectly. In the short term, or in the long term. Our hard work, saves lives. Our work matters.
3. It is ok to fall back and make mistakes, but it is not ok to remain there. Seek guidance, seek second chance, discuss your challenges and move forward with new learnings. And if you need to opt out, recognize that ahead of time and inform the concerned people.
These learnings are important to me because I think they will set my personal culture and add to my personal values too. It will align me to the mission of 7cups as well as make me a better leader in every sphere of life. It will help me stay on the same page with my fellow leaders and team mates on the project assigned to me here. It gives a proper framework to operate around.
@peacefulWarrior10
Hey, Warrior! Online culture building is definitely a very tough task and I think in some ways, tougher than in-person. It's hard because you're dealing with so many different people from different cultures who have different values and standards, and you're dealing with people who have negative intentions.
We impact everyone we come across, and every site. We definitely do save lives through what we do here, and that's something to be so proud of. I like how you said "It is ok to fall back and make mistakes, but it is not ok to remain there." Overall, I love your thoughtful responses and I hope for your continued success on here as a leader and a listener!
@peacefulWarrior10 Looks like you've learned some important things for you! Keep doing a great job!
@SofiaT2000
Thank you! You too <3
3 things I learned from the 7 cups guide is that it is important to understand and trust others so that we can help others. Another thing I learned is that we should treat everyone equally and with respect. The third thing I learned was that it is okay to fail, but we should learn from our mistakes and grow from them.
@lovelyNight9853
Yes, trust does need to be reciprocated from both parties for things to work out well! You've learnt a lot from the guide, I hope it can help you in your life and in your Cups life as well. :)
The 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you?
1. An organization that is built on trust, is built on a firm foundation. In a community where people from different walks of life come together to build a community that nurtures meaningful connection through compassion - trust plays a big role as it not only empowers but it also enables members to grow and reach the organization's mission.
2. Failing is never a dead-end in your journey and voyage as a meaningful being. Failure allows you to see areas in your life that needs extra work on. Encourage yourself to use it as an inspiration to stay focused and motivated.
3. In order to give, you must be full. In every connection with a member, you are giving a part of yourself to that person whether it is through sharing of your experiences or even just by lending a shoulder. Knowing this, you are able to take extra steps to be mindful of how you feel which prevents burn out.
@Liru0417
Hey, Liru! I love your detailed and well thought out answers. It seems like you've absorbed a lot of the guide and I hope it'll help you in the future! "In every connection with a member, you are giving a part of yourself to that person" I absolutely love that. Think that needs to be on my wall for me to remember for the future!
First, I learned that the golden area, well, blue area in the guide, is to ind something that I am good at, that interests me, and that solves a problem. I should enjoy what I am chose to do, and make sure the outcome is very beneficial to not just me, but others as well. The second most important thing I leared was that you al except failure. I have this constant need to have everything be perfect, the way I want it done. I realize howver, that not everything will go smoothly, and sometimes I may crash and burn, but it's important to have those moents so I an learn from them and do better the next time. Lastly, taking care of myself really stood out to me because not differentiating between my work self and my current self, all ties into doing what I enjoy in my own way of enjoying it. I should not have to put up a front when really I am struggling and need to take time to focus on myself. Ultimately, I am at my best when I am being myself.
@BeautifulMasterpiece
The the blue area of the picture reminds me very much of the concept of ikigai, to find most fulfilment in your volunteer and professional life. In regards to failure, what I like to remind myself of is that "every failure is a learning opportunity- will you accept it and learn from it?" I do love how you said you are at your best when you are yourself- that is so true. You can put all your energy into your work, not into putting up a facade and worrying about being drained.
@GlenM
Three things I learned from the 7 cups guide are:
1) It is essential to collaborate with others as it can contribute to the diversity of ideas to maximize problem-solving and to help each other. Moreover, we should treat everyone equally and with respect.
2) We can also look at failure as something that is inevitable sometimes and it can teach us a lesson and help our self-development. It is important to not give up and keep trying our best.
3) We value warmth and friendliness because it increases trust and leads to more efficient work
@MoonlightHelper1
Hey, Helper! Collaboration is definitely so important! Two heads are better than one. That's how 7 Cups came this far, through working with others, embracing differing opinions and compromising. I love that you summarised the things you learnt and connected them with other values. <3