Memorandum

To: All IAE/The Innovation Hub Members

Author: José Rego

Date: 9 December 2021

Re: What Exactly Is Our Culture?

A few months back (22 September to be exact), we had to address a rift in our network; the underlying issue then, and now, is the same: our culture. So I wanted to step back and take a moment to address this at its core. warrant

Culture is fundamental to any community or tribe. It’s the collection of social behaviours, beliefs, customs and habits. What’s phenomenal about culture is how easily it evolves. 

Growth

If you looked at the IAE (or The Hub) a year back, we barely had any members, and the only resources available were leftover equipment from 5 years ago. Today, we have more than 20 members (and growing). The one underlying feature that every member has is the desire to express themselves by innovating - be it artistically, technologically, or academically - everything else has sort of shaped and shifted around this feature.

Cracks

Inevitably, with such rapid growth, there will be cracks that form as our personal cultures (behaviours, beliefs and habits) integrate into one. Emotions are inseparable from this process. Expectations will take a hit. Progress will fluctuate. But the one thing that should NEVER be affected is our ability to express ourselves with our work.

Work

We need to work on some basic things:

1. we need to communicate better and more frequently, with respect and consideration. Emotions often get the best of us, so this complicates our ability to communicate effectively. Mastering our emotions is a skill, both on giving- and receiving-ends.
2. We need to “clean our rooms”. It’s easier looking at the yard and complaining about how unkempt it is; while it takes more effort to clean up our immediate spaces. Put simply, we need to be responsible for ourselves first, before extending that to our surroundings.
3. Most importantly, we need discipline. This is by far the hardest skill to master, but it’s foundational to everything else that we do and the culture we need. This translates to seeing through what we commit to; projects, programmes, and goals.

Communication, responsibility and discipline. This will be our starting point, before anything else. These will enable us to re-integrate and cooperate with each other better. 

Assembling A Plane

Setting this cultural core starts with each and every one of us applying it to our lives and our work.

By electing me as your leader, you assigned me the responsibility to be disciplined enough to address these faults and ensure we grow together. Imagine jumping off of a cliff and assembling a plane on your way down; that’s what most days feel like.

So beyond writing this memo and pointing out the obvious to you, I need everyone’s help in making sure this plane flies, for all our sakes. I will fail from time to time, but we are all learning as we go.

This will not be an easy exercise, but for the life of this association, it is necessary.

Let’s keep building!