Thriving in Our Company Culture: 25 Advice from the Team

If you are planning on joining our team at Legacy, here is my advice: leave your ego at the door and bring your curiosity in. Being successful here is not about knowing everything; it is about being truly curious.

At Legacy, learning is the standard, not the addition. We are building an online K-12 school across 30+ countries, which requires us to grow and learn quickly and sometimes build the plane while flying it. The people who thrive here are the ones who ask, “Why do we do it this way?” and “How could this feel better for the student?”

For example, we noticed students were leaving live classes after a few minutes of being on the call with other students. Instead of assuming their disengagement was distraction, someone asked, “What is happening right before they exit?” It turned out the login flow created friction, and we made an easy fix, and engagement skyrocketed.

The point is, if you are new here, do not come in with a lot of preconceived notions and impress everyone with a million big ideas. Listen to the people around you, ask questions that make people think, and make super small improvements that actually have an impact. That is how you will grow here.

Don’t wait to be told what to do.

In my experience, the people who really thrive in any company are the ones who take ownership from day one. They don’t just turn up, follow instructions, and hope someone notices their effort. They look around, see what needs doing, and get on with it. That kind of initiative stands out a mile.

At MTD, we move quickly. Things change, priorities shift, and there isn’t always time for hand-holding — and that’s a good thing. It means you’ve got space to think, to act, and to show what you can do. I’d much rather see someone take a smart risk, make a decision, and learn from it than someone who plays it safe and fades into the background.

The most important thing to remember is this: you don’t need permission to add value. If you spot a better way of doing something, speak up. If something isn’t working, fix it. If you’ve got an idea, share it. That’s how you move from being “the new person” to someone the team depends on and respects.

The people who thrive here are the ones who treat the business as if it’s their own. Bring that mindset, and you’ll go far.

If I had to give one piece of advice to a new employee joining Tecknotrove, it would be to stay curious and never hesitate to ask “why.” Our culture thrives on innovation, and many of our best ideas have come from people who were new and questioned how things could be done better. Whether you’re in engineering, sales, or support, understanding the “why” behind our simulators, our training methods, or our client interactions will help you see the bigger picture of what we do and why it matters.

The most important thing to remember is that Tecknotrove values initiative over perfection. You’ll never be penalized for experimenting, but you might miss out if you don’t share your ideas. We’re a team that celebrates problem-solvers who think beyond job titles and are willing to collaborate across departments. If you can blend curiosity with accountability, you won’t just fit into our culture—you’ll help shape it.

This is my advice to new employees who want to figure out how to thrive in a hyper design-driven culture like ours.

Don’t wait to be told how to “belong”.

Treat culture discovery as a series of small experiments. You don’t need a magic list of company rules. Though you will have a phase of onboarding when you’re at risk of being “culture timed out” (a phrase I just invented), the best new hires at Cords Club improvise a series of small experiments during that phase to avoid it. For example, a junior copywriter at Cords Club showed up to our first in-person brainstorming meeting and, instead of sitting back quietly, threw out the idea to switch to asynchronous brainstorming using Loom videos.

Now that’s how our hybrid team brainstorms, because that experiment solved a problem. There’s no single recipe for how to “belong”. But new hires can accelerate that phase of their onboarding by proposing a series of small-scale experiments to the group: “What do we want to do about this? Do you like it, dislike it, are you neutral?” Think of culture discovery as a form of product design. Virtually any culture can evolve to make you happy, fast. Deloitte reported in their Human Capital Trends report for 2023 that new hires ramp up 22% faster at organizations where they can do this. We measure that number at Cords Club, and it’s about 20%, so it’s pretty accurate.

Be curious, not assumptive. You might assume you’re supposed to work till 3am because you see the creative director replying to Slack DMs then, but you’re probably wrong. In fact, I tell everybody explicitly when they join my studio Cords Club that none of my messages after a certain time require a reply, with a subject line flag “nntr” (no need to reply).

Beaver and Wood, who run my studio, talk explicitly with new people about why people work late on Slack and how they can tell which messages require a reply and which don’t. A new person who seeks this out has a big leg up on the new person who just copies surface-level behaviors to “fit in”. Those are the ones who burn out.

The first thing I’d tell them is to lean into a mindset of continuous learning and genuine curiosity. Our work is all about helping others unlock their potential, so the fastest way to feel at home is to model that behavior yourself—ask thoughtful questions during client sessions, actively seek feedback afterwards, and stay on top of the latest performance-science research. When you’re visibly investing in your own growth, you signal to the whole team that you live the same values you teach, and that credibility builds trust with both colleagues and clients.

The most important reminder I’d give is to keep purpose ahead of short-term wins. In our culture, success isn’t just about hitting a quota or checking off a to-do list; it’s about the lasting impact we create for the people we coach. Let the bigger mission—empowering individuals and teams to perform at their best—guide every interaction, report, and meeting. When you align every decision with that purpose, you’ll naturally reinforce our culture and drive sustainable results for everyone involved.

If you are a new employee who wants to succeed within a company culture, my basic piece of advice is to build authentic relationships from the start. Everything relies on collaboration and communication. Take the opportunity to understand what each department does, from the front office to the back office, because success here relies upon the ability of everyone to support one another. If you can demonstrate initiative, ask engaging questions, and respect each other’s time and each other’s position in the process, you will naturally find yourself a part of the company’s culture.

Let’s say your company is in the hospitality field. Hospitality can be hectic and unpredictable, particularly during busy shifts or seasonal changes. Instead of resisting change, treat every situation as a learning opportunity. People who can remain calm while under pressure typically gain the respect of their coworkers and supervisors faster.

Lastly, maintain a positive attitude. In the hospitality and service industry, being a professional and reliable worker is just as important, if not more so, than being the lowest bidder technician. Management takes notice of employees who arrive each day ready to work and contribute, as well as treat each guest and coworker with respect.

The most important point to remember is that the company culture is made up of the people who care about the service being provided, who care about their colleagues, and care about the experience they are providing to the customer. If you approach work every day from this perspective, growth is bound to happen.

My ESSENTIAL advice for new employees involves prioritizing authentic relationship building with local artisans and cultural communities over operational efficiency metrics, understanding that our company culture values deep cultural connections and community impact above quick wins or short-term revenue optimization. The MOST IMPORTANT principle to remember involves treating every guide, artisan partner, and traveler interaction as an opportunity to build lasting trust and cultural understanding that creates sustainable competitive advantages through genuine relationships that our competitors cannot replicate through transactional approaches or aggressive scaling strategies.

New team members who thrive at City Unscripted consistently demonstrate curiosity about cultural traditions, respect for community rhythms and values, and patience with relationship-building processes that may feel slow compared to conventional business operations. Focus on asking thoughtful questions about cultural context, listening deeply to guide expertise and artisan perspectives, and approaching challenges with a collaborative problem-solving mindset that honors community needs alongside business objectives, ensuring your work style aligns with our core values around authentic cultural preservation and fair community partnerships.

I tell every new team member to stay curious because our culture at Advanced Professional Accounting Services runs on learning and small experiments. Try tiny improvements, ask simple questions, and share what you notice. We move fast, but we help each other, so no one has to figure things out alone. The most important thing to remember is that clarity beats perfection. Speak up early, keep communication clean, and the work will feel lighter and far more rewarding.

Self-start or stall out. At DualEntry, no one’s going to tell you what to do next. We hire people who see gaps and fill them without permission. By day three, you should be asking questions that show you’ve read the docs and talked to customers. By week two, you should’ve shipped something. If you’re waiting for permission, you’re already behind.

The most important thing: close your own loops. At DualEntry, nobody’s chasing you for updates or telling you what’s next. You see a problem in the product, you fix it. Customer’s confused, you rewrite the docs. Process is slow, you cut the lag. We run with two people doing work that used to take twelve because everyone owns their domain completely.

Speed matters more than consensus. We’d rather you ship fast and iterate than build the perfect thing in isolation for three weeks. The feedback loop is the product development process—compress it and you win.

One piece of advice I’d give a new team member at Timeless London is to embrace curiosity over perfection. Our culture thrives on creativity, collaboration, and learning. We value people who ask questions, bring ideas, and aren’t afraid to experiment. It’s not about getting everything right the first time; it’s about showing initiative and growing through the process.

The most important thing to remember is that your voice matters. Whether you’re in design, marketing, or logistics, everyone contributes to shaping the brand. We celebrate individuality just as much as teamwork, so leaning into your unique strengths while staying open to others’ perspectives is what helps you truly thrive here.

I encourage team members to treat clarity as an act of care for themselves, their team, and their work. In our culture, clarity is the precursor to future leadership. It’s how we reduce confusion, build trust, and give each other the space to operate at our best. The environment is thoughtfully designed to support sharing what they understand and what they don’t, without concern of judgment. And when something feels unclear, we assume positive intent and seek alignment as a unit. We emphasize that clarity is not a sign of inexperience but an indicator of strength. Our philosophy is that direct feedback is a form of respect as long as it is compassionate.

I always tell new employees to focus on communication and collaboration—our work depends on being in sync with clients and teammates. Ask questions, share ideas, and don’t be afraid to speak up if something could run more smoothly. The most important thing to remember is that we succeed as a team, not as individuals, and every voice contributes to creating great food and great experiences for our clients.

Whenever I welcome new team members, I like to remind them to think of curiosity as their superpower. We are passionate about developing talent, and our culture is built on people exploring ideas and challenging each other—not to be disruptive, but to help us all think more strategically and serve clients more effectively. When you are truly curious, you begin to see new opportunities, contextualize understanding faster, and develop relationships across the team.

As important as curiosity is, the bottom line is that culture is not something you witness and observe from a distance. It is something that you co-create through your words and actions. Every engagement, every idea you put forth, and every time you choose to collaborate instead of opting for the easy thing is building the environment in which we all operate. When you take ownership in your first meeting, invest in the initiative, come with an open mind, and a willingness to make the people around you better, you’re no longer fitting into the culture; you are moving the culture forward.

My best advice for thriving in our company culture is to truly understand and live our five core values. We created these values after experiencing how one person who wasn’t aligned with our culture could impact the whole team. The most important thing to remember is that these values aren’t just words on a wall – they’re the foundation of how we work together and how we evaluate success here. When you align your work with these core principles, you’ll find yourself growing and connecting with the team naturally.

My advice to new employees looking to thrive in our company culture is to build strong professional relationships across the organization. Take time to connect with colleagues, learn about their career journeys, and understand how different teams contribute to our shared goals. Building this network – both digitally and in person – not only helps you navigate the organization more effectively but also opens doors to mentorship and growth opportunities that might not be immediately apparent when you first join. You don’t need to connect with absolutely everyone, but it is worth investing some time to learn more from the people that make up the organization.

My advice is to purposefully and intentionally invest time to get to know your new colleagues. This includes getting to know them but also allowing them to get to know you not just as a person but also as a professional. To that point, while social interactions are good avenues to get to know people, I strongly believe that problem solving on business issues is a more effective strategy to get to know the company’s culture and its people. Therefore, I encourage all new employees to participate, observe, and engage in problem solving not just within their areas of expertise but also, where possible, to sit in on meetings and discussions that may not be directly relevant to their scope of work. This type of exposure gives new team members a much broader sense of how strong and consistent the company’s culture is.

Working in nonprofit fundraising, I’ve seen that people thrive when they feel trusted and supported. My advice to anyone joining our team is simple: Take ownership of your work, but never hesitate to ask for help. Around here, collaboration is how we move things forward.

We’re a fully remote company, so communication and transparency matter a lot. Be open, speak up in meetings, and make time to connect casually with teammates. Those small check-ins build trust and make collaboration easier across time zones.

Most importantly, remember that you’re joining a culture built on kindness and respect. Everyone here has the freedom to manage their time and priorities without judgment. When you feel safe to be yourself, great work naturally follows.

Thriving Through Authentic Engagement

The best advice I give to new team members at Hones Law is simple: engage with authenticity. Our firm’s culture thrives on openness, respect, and the willingness to listen, not just to clients, but to one another. I encourage new employees to ask questions early and often, to share their ideas even if they’re unsure, and to view feedback as collaboration, not criticism. The people who grow the fastest here are the ones who see culture as a two-way street; they contribute to it rather than waiting to be “fitted” into it.

The Most Important Thing to Remember

From my experience as both an employer and an employment lawyer, I’ve learned that thriving at work has less to do with being perfect and more to do with being present. The most successful employees are those who show up consistently, communicate clearly, and take ownership when mistakes happen. Every workplace, even one built on empathy, relies on trust. The fastest way to build that trust is by showing integrity in the small moments: following through, being transparent, and treating colleagues with genuine respect. That’s the foundation of any healthy culture, no matter the industry.

Take initiative to express your opinions. Our team encourages active participation because everyone is expected to share ideas about potential improvements. All staff members–whether part of the installation crew or front office–take part in process enhancement efforts, regardless of their position.

The core principle we follow is maintaining a long-term commitment to our work. A thoughtful approach always takes precedence over speed, as we focus on delivering clean installations and providing clear rebate explanations to customers. Doing things right the first time builds trust, which in turn helps us develop strong, effective teams.

I think the most important thing for new employees to remember is that it will take them time to catch up and work at the same level as their co-workers and team. Some people get overwhelmed when they’re not performing as well as their team in the first few weeks, but they should remember that they just got started and they’re not expected to learn everything on or from day one.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself and speak up. Authenticity fuels innovation, and fresh ideas often come from those willing to share their unique perspective. The most important thing to remember is that your voice matters. Confidence in contributing openly not only helps you grow but also strengthens the team’s collective creativity and trust.