By Taavet Hinrikus — TransferWise Co-Founder and CEO

Culture is one of those things that a lot of people talk about. A buzzword that companies obsess over. Partly because the competition for talent is so fierce. We’re all in the market to attract and retain the brightest and the best. The real challenge of being a growing company is not how to win market-share and internationalise at speed but how to build and sustain the team that will make that happen. Culture is key to growth.

CULTURE CAN’T BE ENFORCED

But culture is hard to define. It’s feeling you just get in a business. It’s the unwritten — but accepted — rules of how we behave. Any group of people has a culture, from families through to businesses to nation states. It’s not something that can be enforced but it can be fostered.

For an idea to evolve into a fast growing business the key is to focus on fast. What kind of culture and organisation do you need to be fastest? In a disruptive business, speed is what sets you apart from the competitors. Empowerment and autonomy are key to that. When it works, it means you move fast. But you need to watch out for how this structure evolves as the business grows. When it doesn’t work, it feels like chaos and there’s no real movement at all. It’s obvious that teams that are closest to customers and closest to code know most and can make the best decisions of what needs to happen. That means it’s key that they are empowered to do so.

AUTONOMOUS TEAMS + CONTEXT = SPEED

The TransferWise team breaks its first Guinness World Record.

As a business grows, there is more context around that is not always obviously visible. Teams operate within the business, not in silos and need that context to make the best decisions. The most effective culture combines strong leadership and autonomy within teams. Everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction — working in small teams and rolling up to a global vision. It works best when teams have a well-defined focus and clear outcomes to strive for. Decisions get made, problems get solved, things move forward. Smart people in autonomous teams + the right context = most speed. There’s a happy balance where teams are inspired: enabled to innovate, and guided by the leadership of the business.

As a company grows, the challenge of sustaining the culture is multiplied. The big advantage we have is that TransferWise was founded with a clear mission at its heart: to make the world of finance fairer. Everyone is inspired by that mission, pulling in the same direction to make our product and service the best they can be for the customer.

That kind of culture — one that inspires and supports — is made up of more than just a ping-pong table (or sauna) and free food that characterise a tech company’s office space. It’s a culture that lives and breathes, made by and for the people that are at its heart. It needs constant attention to help it thrive. Without focus, its ambiguity means it can be used as a smokescreen for unhelpful behaviour or meaningless excess.

CUSTOMERS > TEAM > EGO

At TransferWise, at the core of our culture are our four values:

Customers > Team >Ego

We get it done

No drama, good karma

This isn’t just a job, it’s a revolution

And it’s those four values that are the focus and that guide the whole team’s behaviour.

We’re always looking for ways to better support the culture. It’s a work in progress, and always will be. Having a positive working environment is of course important from the physical space we work in through to the ‘emotional space’ for example, how we recognise people’s contribution and how we provide opportunity for learning and growth. And every quarter, we take a temperature check to see how everyone across the business is doing.

A TRANSFERWISE MAFIA

Culture is slow to build and hard to change. It’s dependent on everyone within the business so evolves on its own, but everyone can steer it in the right direction. You know when it’s wrong… and you know when it’s right. I joined Skype as its first employee and stayed seven years.

At TransferWise, our first three employees are still with us, growing and thriving as the business does. Of course, some churn is good for a business — it can help keep us fresh. And as an entrepreneur, I look forward to the day when member of our team go and start up their own companies.