Storis Sell - On Describing Culture - 223 Words

Ever heard of Boundaryless Behavior? 

I hadn’t before I started working with a local Engineering Firm. The company's president shared this example.

Recently a client of theirs in Canada had an issue come up. It wasn’t solvable over the phone. So the Project Engineer told the team he was driving to Canada to get things squared away. He wasn’t asking for permission, or setting up brainstorm meetings. He made a call and took action on it. First thing in the morning the next day he jumped in his car and headed north. 

Sounds pretty cool to me. 

When on calls with mechanical engineers, I share that story. 

“I mean sounds great in theory, but I like to be off work by 5-6. having to drop everything and go out of state or country wouldn’t be a good fit” was one response.

2 hours later, I have a call lined up with a similar profile and share the same example. Polar opposite response. “I love that! There are so many times red tape has gotten in the way. When if I could’ve gone on site it would’ve been an easy fix”.

Stories work a lot like magnets, they pull some in, and push others out. Either is fine and it cuts through the ambiguity of describing company culture.