Book 87 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title – Values are the Operating System of Every Great Culture

Book – Do Better Work: Finding clarity, camaraderie, and progress in work and life by Max Yoder

Book Description: When we do better work, we live better lives. Share before you’re ready. Get more agreements. Have difficult conversations. These are a few of the practical but profound ideas Lessonly CEO Max Yoder shares in Do Better Work. No matter your rank or role, if you want to see more understanding, accountability, and progress on your team, these stories and examples are for you.

Reflection:

Friends and acquaintances of mine that work at Lessonly constantly sing the praises of Max Yoder and the culture that he has helped construct. They love working there. They love the environment. They feel connected to the mission and to each other. They seem to have found the holy grail of personal fulfillment through meaningful work and meaningful relationships, which is what this is all about at the end of the day.

I hear the praises so much that I couldn’t help but to be curious to learn more about this culture to better understand the why for myself. Luckily for me, the CEO, Max Yoder, made it incredibly easy for anyone to understand the key elements that make up the Lessonly culture through the book he wrote called, Do Better Work.

After reading the book, it was easy to see why this culture has taken off, grown, thrived, and has become so inviting to entice others that want to join the mission. For me, it wasn’t really the words, wisdom, or philosophies Max shared, it was that he took the time to clearly share them in the first place. Do Better Work is really a core values manual more than anything else in my mind. It spells out exactly what the Lessonly culture values, provides context of the why behind the values, shows examples of how they live these values, provides a guiding compass for anyone in that culture to make decisions, and serves as an advertisement for anyone, like myself, that shares similar values and wants to join the mission.

Every great culture has a manual of its values to serve as its operating system to make sure everyone is on the same page. The Catholic Church has the bible and the 10 commandments, Bridgewater Capital has Principles by Ray Dalio, Patagonia has Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard, and Lessonly has Do Better Work by Max Yoder.

Writing down your values is only step 1, living your values in as many activities as you can is step 2. I’m sure that Lessonly is achieving this critical second step as well or else I wouldn’t constantly be hearing the praises from its people.

Well done Max and the Lessonly team…keep doing better work and giving the world another powerful example of the meaningful work and meaningful relationships that can result from living your values and building a great culture.  

Question: What is the operating system of your life?

---

Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Do Better Work

YOML Bookstore - Do Better Work: Finding clarity, camaraderie, and progress in work and life by Max Yoder