What cults and great companies have in common...

What does cults and great companies have in common? They create a culture that is so tight-knit, so difficult to fit in, but when you are an insider it becomes almost impossible to leave. Great companies, as with cults, do not only create a set of values and call it their culture, they create an ideology, then indoctrinate their employees, reinforces it and then - everyone who is hesitant to become an insider are ejected like a virus.

A cult-like culture

Although cults have a negative association, company culture does not. So lets go with that. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras explain that companies like Nordstrom start their indoctrination at interviews where they explain that very few make it unless they prove themselves at every level. They get rid of 50% of new hires within the first year. They then make you start to work at the bottom irrespective of your experience or qualifications, they chant affirmations and they get employees to write heroic stories about other employees (a common practice of cults who engage recruits in the socializing of others into the cult). They are continuously reminded to always smile, they get personalized business cards, their pay, awards and recognition are all strictly based on doing things the Nordstrom way. If you don't confine, you are negatively reinforced with penalties or black marks. Everyone wears sweaters with a big N on it and there are almost a cultish feel about trying to be one of the insiders.

The lesson is not to follow the practices of cults, butt o acknowledge that company CULTure is not trying to make everyone feel at home, it is exactly the opposite. Some companies now give new hires a huge cash bonus if they leave the company within 3 months, simply because it is more costly to keep someone who does not fit. Others are actively helping employees look for other opportunities outside the company, as to be sure they their won employees are not just there because they do not have any other choices. Employee retention programs are dying. Amazon, Zando, Nordstrom, IBM, Disney, 3M, J&J, HP and Wal-Mart - all have the same culture of absolute conformity, and it works.

Read Chapter 6 (Cult-like cultures) in Built to Last from Jim Collins.