You can find your way through an organization by figuring out what artifacts people leave behind, David Grizzanti mentioned at InfoQ Dev Summit Boston. In his talk, the pillars of staff+ growth, he compared culture to anthropology. He suggested studying behaviors, power dynamics, and decisions first, and then patiently model and reward new norms, build allies, and use influence and leading by example, to shift engineering culture over time.
Grizzanti mentioned that his approach to shaping engineering culture has always been grounded in the belief that understanding culture is like anthropology. You can’t change what you don’t deeply understand:
My method isn’t about dramatic overhauls or writing a “culture manifesto” on day one. It’s a deliberate process of diagnosis, analysis, and modeling the behavior I want to see.
On one hand, you have rewarded behaviors, and you have punished behaviors. In between you have accepted and expected behaviors, Grizzanti said. Understanding where behaviors fall on the spectrum gives you a good idea of what the culture is like and what behavior is rewarded in a company.
When you’re trying to shape an engineering culture at a company, you really need to understand how decisions are being made, who has the authority to make those decisions, which departments have influence, and how this information is communicated, Grizzanti said.
With a clear understanding of the existing culture, you can begin to shape it. Grizzanti suggested doing this, not through mandates, but by setting new norms and modeling behavior accordingly. Culture is a multiplier, and it’s demonstrated through behavior, he added:
By consistently modeling and rewarding these desired behaviors, you slowly shift the cultural norms. You make the “rewarded” behaviors the ones that lead to a healthier, more effective, and more resilient engineering organization. It’s a patient, deliberate process.
Culture is a multiplier; you are the example. Once you get to a staff plus position, depending on how big the company is, culture is a leverage point, Grizzanti explained:
Use your influence to amplify values like psychological safety and inclusion, make sure you’re setting a good example in these areas, and be approachable.
Shaping the culture is introducing new ideas to an existing environment. You need to understand the existing culture, find out what works well and what the pain points are, Grizzanti said. He suggested starting small and not trying to change everything at once, by picking one or two key practices and focusing on implementing them well. To build consensus, he suggested finding allies who share your values and work with them to champion these new ideas, as culture change is a team sport.
A leader, whether it’s an IC or an engineering leader who has management duties, can really set a tone and make a huge difference in an organization, Grizzanti concluded.
InfoQ interviewed David Grizzanti about shaping culture in software companies.
InfoQ: How do you apply anthropology to understand the culture in a software company?
David Grizzanti: You can observe and listen to understand how work truly gets done through five “cultural artifacts”:
- Tools: what does the team’s tech stack reveal?
- Process: how do features go from idea to production? Are code reviews collaborative? Are post-mortems blameless?
- Behavior: analyze what behaviors are punished vs. rewarded. Is heroic firefighting valued over proactive prevention? How are mistakes handled? This shows true organizational values.
- Values: compare stated values with rewarded behaviors; “work-life balance” often means “hyper-availability” if promotions go to those online late.
- People: identify informal leaders and influential individuals.
InfoQ: How do you lead by example?
Grizzanti: Your personal actions are the most powerful tool for sharing culture. People will look to what you do far more than what you say.
- Demonstrate the desired behaviors: if you value code quality, write well-tested, clean code, and conduct thorough code reviews, to set an example. If you value collaboration, actively seek out pairing opportunities, and offer help to your new colleagues, to demonstrate positive behavior.
- Be the engineer you want to work with: show up to meetings prepared, communicate clearly and respectfully, and be open to feedback. Your professionalism and approach will set a standard.
- Mentor and coach: take the time to explain the “why” behind your technical decisions and practices to your new teammates. This is a direct way to transfer cultural knowledge.
