Companies don’t have values. People do.

by Fernando Moreira / May 4, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Because of the current hype of entrepreneurship and startups, we seem to understand the concept of company differently, attributing it more human characteristics and qualities than we probably should. Right now, in our era, we say that companies have a culture and therefore have values too. I don’t believe so.

Before – Yesterday

After the industrial revolution, we have been focused on scale and money.

We’re focused on creating things quickly and making money for people that we don’t believe or truly don’t care about. My family worked on that regime. My father worked for others (and not for himself) for 25 years before creating his own company.

My mother worked for a company that after 30 years went bankrupt and left thousands of employees without a job. I think I’m ok with that – it was their choice.

Now – Today

Things have changed. Companies and the people responsible for these companies need to retain talent (people are smarter now than some years ago), and by consequence, they are creating an environment of sharing and perks that make value for people that decided to do their path with the companies that they are working with.

Companies decorate their office walls with their values written in big letters as though this will impact peoples’ lives. We suffer from the same symptom and in our meeting room we have the same “remedy”.

Companies and the people who run them need to explore talent (people have become more aware and insightful on a global level than ever before), by creating an enriching environment in which employees can grow their careers as well as develop themselves as individuals.

After – Tomorrow

Companies and the sailors of these companies will spend a lot of money on team building dynamics, company culture and rewards/perks.

They are trying to understand what motivates people to stay in the company and therefore how to keep them.

I believe that the focus or the goal could be different. If the main focus was truly on keeping people in the company, we would fuck things up in a biased way.

So, in case you’re asking: If companies don’t have values or culture, then what do they have? In my humble opinion – Principles. Fundamental Principles.

I’m grateful, but I’m ready to get rid of the LDA company designation. And I feel that I’m also ready to let go of all the people inside of our LDA company. Companies don’t have values or culture. We have. We, the people.