I read 『Who You Are（フーユーアー）君の真の言葉と行動こそが困難を生き抜くチームをつくる』ベン・ホロウィッツ（著） (What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz), so I’ll share the insights I gained from the book.

Background: Recommended Reading for Managers

I had finished reading this about 2 years ago, but since it became a recommended book for managers within our company, I’ve decided to publish these reading notes now, albeit belatedly.

Below are quotes and notes from sections that left an impression on me.

Introduction: Your Actions Define Who You Are

Among the following questions, how many can be solved with surface corporate goals and missions?

? Decisions made when the top isn’t present are corporate culture.

The number of answerable questions is zero. There are no "correct answers" to these questions. The "correct answer" varies by company. The answer changes depending on what the company is now, its actions, and what it wants to become. Ultimately, how employees answer these questions is that company's culture. What decisions people make when the top isn't present is corporate culture. The set of assumptions employees use for daily problem-solving is corporate culture. How they behave when no one is watching is corporate culture. If you don't consciously and carefully create organizational culture, two-thirds of that culture will be accidentally formed, and the remaining third will simply be failures.

Chapter 2: Using Louverture's Technique

Demonstrating Priorities Through Actions

Hastings made a tough decision to show what he wanted to prioritize within the company. He kicked out every single DVD business executive from the weekly management meetings. "That was one of the hardest moments in building this company," Hastings later said. "I loved them, we had grown together, and they were handling everything important now. But they weren't contributing at all to streaming discussions." Hastings had been wary that streaming-only companies might catch up to Netflix. If streaming-only companies don't have DVD business executives in meetings, then Netflix should do the same.

? To show what’s most important, identify what’s not contributing and make tough decisions.

No management book would tell you to shut out the loyal team that brings in all your revenue from important meetings. But Hastings understood that directing culture in the right direction should take priority over everything else. A transition from a culture that values content and logistics to one that values content and technology was necessary. Changing culture affects everything from working hours to compensation systems. But without change, they would become like Blockbuster. Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010.

? Directing culture in the right direction is the top priority.

Clearly Stating Ethical Standards

There's one thing to remember: ethics is about tough choices. Tell investors a gentle lie or fire a third of employees? Be ridiculed by competitors or deceive users? Stop raises or allow a little unfairness? Answering these questions may seem incredibly difficult. But compared to instilling ethics in slave soldiers during war, it should be much easier.

? Ethics is about tough choices.

Chapter 5: Using Sangoal's Technique

Culture Changes People

So hiring "good people" and rejecting "bad people" doesn't guarantee building an honest corporate culture. Even if honest when joining, they might not be able to remain honest if that environment doesn't reward honesty for success. Just as Africans who absorbed Saint-Domingue's slave culture later became excellent soldiers under Louverture, people become the familiar culture itself and take actions necessary for survival and success.

? The importance of corporate culture.

Chapter 9: Edge Cases and Examples

Decision-Making Culture

The decisions you make influence your corporate culture more than anything else. The decision-making process also becomes the core of culture. Leaders have three decision-making styles:

1. With us or against us? This type of leader says “I don’t care about your opinion. I’m going my way. If you don’t like my methods, leave.” This is the quickest approach. Decisions can be made without any discussion.

2. Everyone participates. This type of leader prefers democratic processes. If they could decide everything with formal voting, they would. Though decision-making takes longer, everyone is guaranteed participation.

3. I’ll listen to everyone and decide myself. This type of leader tries to gather correct information and use all wisdom while streamlining the process. It’s not as democratic as the everyone-participates style, nor as efficient as the with-us-or-against-us style.

The third style usually works best in business.

? The “listen to everyone and decide myself” style usually works best.

CEOs are evaluated by the efficiency and intelligence of their decision-making, so the "listen to everyone and decide myself" style tends to achieve decision-making that balances speed and information volume. This style assumes that not everyone in the company has sufficient information, and that those in leadership positions accumulate knowledge and decide which path to take.

? Those in leadership positions accumulate knowledge and decide the path.

That’s all from the Gemba, where I want to be particular about my style as a leader.