CULTURE FIRST

Becker’s guide to business culture draws lessons from elite military and police units.

In this debut business book, the author lays out nine crucial components of a successful corporate culture, arguing that a strong culture is the essential foundation for a profitable business. Becker, an entrepreneur and podcaster, combines stories from his role at the head of a tactical equipment company with insights from his interviews with other executives and leaders of military and law enforcement teams. He distills corporate culture into its essential elements, including hiring the right people, maintaining high standards, embracing criticism, and taking risks. Devoting one chapter to each of the nine pillars he identifies, the author illustrates the concepts with stories from tactical law enforcement units, elite military squads, and companies like Pixar, Microsoft, and Amazon. The stories often bring readers into the action as Becker describes hostage situations, terrorist attacks, and military assaults in which teams make split-second decisions enabled by the cultures they have developed. The author makes a solid case for applying the lessons of military and law enforcement to teams who face far fewer life-and-death decisions, though readers outside those fields may not share his enthusiasm for their intense training methods. The author displays a welcome humility as he discusses what he’s learned from his own mistakes as an executive and demonstrates the characteristics that he encourages readers to develop. The text is highly readable—Becker writes in an engagingly conversational style that keeps the pages turning while also making points effectively (“This approach is like throwing away all the sharp knives in your kitchen to avoid injuring yourself”) and highlighting action items and key takeaways. The book has occasional missteps, particularly the inclusion of Pixar as an exemplar without reference to the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment. On the whole, however, the book is full of pithy insights, actionable recommendations, and solid arguments for reimagining corporate culture in both large and small ways.

A compelling argument for culture as the defining element of business success.