Company Culture is not a Vibe

"Culture" is a buzzword, something to decorate job descriptions, color Instagram posts, and sit next to cold brew taps and meditation apps on the career page of every startup website. It used to have meaning… I’ve been writing about it. But just like that, thrown together with all the “trends” and “vibes” of the last decades, it lost all meaning.

Culture is not whether your Slack emoji game is strong. It’s not whether your founder wears ON or Air Max. And it sure as hell isn’t whether your office has exposed brick and a foosball table.

Image courtesy of WIX Media

Culture is who you are when no one’s watching. It’s how decisions get made under pressure. It’s the instinctive logic of your team when navigating the unknown. And it is not, let me repeat, not a vibe.

But somehow, a whole generation of founders, managers, and even employees conflate the two. And when the vibes dry up? So does everything else.

Culture vs. Values vs. Vibes: let’s get the definitions clear

• Culture is the lived behavior of an organization. It’s how people communicate, challenge, build, recover, and decide.

• Values are the aspirational principles guiding that behavior. They are the internal compass pointing to what “good” looks like.

• Vibes are the short-term aesthetics or social atmosphere: fun, hype, cool-factor, comfort.

  
  

Vibes are fleeting. Values should be foundational. And culture is what happens when you translate values into action every day, across all levels.

The problem with hiring for the vibe

I have personally heard this so many times when applying for jobs (and have sadly also said it myself a shameful number of times): "We only hire people we'd get a drink with."

Sounds nice, right? Human. Intuitive. Well, the reality is that if I had gone for a drink with all of the 100+ consultancies I had applied for in my final year at university, the only meetings I would be attending today would be with Alcoholics Anonymous.

Here’s the rub: the people you like when drinking with them are like you. Same schools, same cities, same playlists. Diversity of thought? Gone. Real challenge? Squashed. The culture didn’t grow; it calcified (Get it? Because calcium is white?).

Hiring for “culture fit” can often be code for “like us.” And when everyone thinks the same, you stop evolving. What you need instead is culture add: people who challenge, stretch, and deepen your values in new directions.

Look at what happened at WeWork. The vibe was impeccable: kombucha on tap, DJ sets, neon signs, softcore rebellion dressed in VC money. But what was the actual culture? Overspending. Cult of personality. Poor governance. The collapse wasn’t a surprise; it was scripted.

Culture misfires: when vibes lead, values follow

Let’s talk about failure for a second:

• Uber (pre-2017): The vibe was “aggressive disruptor.” But the culture? Ruthless, hostile, and toxic. It took a full CEO replacement and major restructuring to even begin fixing it.

• Zappos post-Tony Hsieh: A strong culture rooted in customer service and “fun” lost its compass when vibes became unmoored from strategic clarity.

• Brand marketing teams in crypto/Web3: Many built identities around aesthetic trends and exclusivity. When the hype wave crashed, there was nothing behind the curtain.

  
  

Companies that mistake branding for belonging, mood for mission, and perks for principles tend to break when adversity shows up.

The culture toolkit: strategy, not serendipity

Let’s flip the script. Culture isn’t emergent. It’s designed. Maintained. Reinforced.

Here’s how:

1. Define your values in conflict: If your “value” is innovation, what happens when innovation slows down delivery? Who wins in that trade-off?

2. Bake values into rituals: Onboarding isn’t about laptops, it’s about legacy. Share stories. Surface heroes. Codify what great looks like.

3. Design for culture add: Ask, “How would this person push our team forward?” instead of “Do they seem like us?”

4. Align your ops: Promotions, rewards, exits. Do they reflect your values? Or are you rewarding performance at the expense of principle?

5. Turn leaders into culture carriers: Culture isn’t a town hall, it’s what happens in 1:1s, team check-ins, crisis calls. Equip your managers to embody and narrate culture daily.

   
   

And when in doubt, remember that culture eats everything for breakfast: strategy, structure, even talent. But it only does so if you feed it.

Trends to avoid: culture as a trendy aesthetic

Some workplaces have fallen into the trap of “hashtag-culture”:

• “We have a Gen Z vibe!” Great, but do you have a real DEI strategy?

• “We’re fun, flat, and fast!” Sounds like you avoid hard feedback.

• “We don’t take ourselves too seriously.” But are you taken seriously at all?

  
  

The companies that last are the ones that understand that culture isn’t about what’s cool now. It’s about what will still matter when your product evolves, when your headcount triples, and when the economy turns.

Spoiler: it’s not the playlist at your offsite.

Culture as a strategic asset

The best businesses know this:

• Culture drives performance: Teams that trust, challenge, and align with shared values move faster and make better decisions.

• Culture retains talent: People stay when they feel seen, safe, and significant, not just when they’re having fun.

• Culture builds resilience: It’s the invisible scaffolding that keeps people grounded when markets shake or plans derail.

  
  

Netflix, for example, made its culture memo public not for PR, but because it believed great talent self-selects into great environments. It knew culture was the differentiator.

Stripe, with its rigorous written culture, codified intellectual rigor and humility as non-negotiables. And created one of the most admired organizations in tech.

Culture is not what your brand projects. It’s what your team perceives and performs every day.

Final word: your culture is not a vibe, it’s a decision

Culture is not a playlist, a sweatshirt, or an emoji-laden Slack channel. It’s a hundred small decisions: how you lead, hire, fire, speak, disagree, rally, rest.

Don’t hire for the vibe. Don’t sell the vibe. Don’t build around the vibe.

Build around values. Enact them through culture. And watch the right people stay. Not because it’s “cool,” but because it’s real.

And real is what endures.