Paul Orfalea is on vacation, but I'm not! - Dean Zatkowsky

Paul often says that as Kinko’s grew, our biggest challenge was moving from a culture of things to a culture of people. A two hundred square foot store could be operated by one or two people, but there were a lot of machines and systems to master. Copiers, binders, passport photo cameras, film processing procedures, school supplies; these were the things the first store managers had to deal with every day. Customers were important, of course, but our services were so novel that even customers were more interested in the “things” that defined Kinko’s. Eventually, Kinko’s stores were over 5,000 square feet, served over 1,000 customers per day, and the store manager was responsible for dozens of coworkers. By then the coworkers, not the machines or procedures, defined the company.

Entrepreneurs often begin by doing everything themselves, but success requires that we learn how to get things done through others. This requires a lot of trust, because if you don’t trust others, you still have to do everything yourself.

I think there are some essential steps one must take to move from a culture of things to a culture of people:

1. Declare Your Values. At Kinko’s we heavily publicized the company philosophy and commitments to communication. These documents expressed our expectations of one another, helped coworkers find meaning in their work, and provided a sort of constitution we could turn to when facing difficult decisions. Two of the competencies of leadership, as detailed by USC Professor Warren Bennis, are managing meaning and managing trust. A clear declaration of values serves both.
2. Manage Management. A culture of people must be a culture of empowered people, so try to maintain a very flat organization chart. Too many levels of management obscure communication and allow people to avoid thinking for themselves. As has often been said, we manage things and lead people. A company with too many managers is treating its people like things.
3. Celebrate Coworkers. It sounds very cynical when Paul says, “give the glory, keep the money,” but it’s just a funny way of saying, “give the people what they want.” Most people want recognition, and they deserve it. By building both recognition and opportunity into your company’s value system, you can share plenty of glory and money with those who seek them. But no matter what, thank your coworkers loudly and often for their contributions.

I left Kinko’s in 1999 and considered becoming a marketing consultant. After studying a few companies I decided to pursue a different career. When Paul asked why I chose to not share my experience with struggling companies, I explained that most of them were tyrannical entrepreneurs who just needed to be nicer to their coworkers and their customers, and few people would pay for that kind of advice. Moreover, I decided that if they needed to be told that, they were unlikely to act on the advice. And finally, I felt that if they needed to be told that, I didn’t want to help them.

Moving from a culture of things to a culture of people is not about feeling warm and fuzzy while singing campfire songs together. It’s about building a team that holds similar values and works toward common goals, so those values and goals must be openly communicated. But an entrepreneur would also do well to remember what my father often said: it doesn’t cost any extra to be nice.