Transferring culture

Noah links to this Nike article.  A nice tidbit on culture and organizational values:

It’s an inevitability that most companies the size of Nike will eventually lose touch with the core values instilled by their founders. It has arguably already happened to Google in a much shorter space of time. However, Nike’s philosophy of ‘innovation and inspiration’ is still present in absolutely everything it does.

Nike employs over 30,000 people.  Maybe it’s because of the traditionally siloed, hierarchical structure of health care organizations, but it doesn’t take size like Nike’s to lose touch with cultural values.  The inevitability of progress combined with the struggles of change make staying true to original intentions difficult.  Here’s how Nike does it:

Ekins are official company storytellers employed to evangelise about the Nike brand and its sports technology. Before being unleashed on the world, Ekins are required to undergo an almost military-like training regime comprising a nine-day rookie camp at Nike’s headquarters in Oregon and a full day’s running at the Hayward field track where Bill Bowerman worked as a track coach. Almost unbelievably, as a further sign of their devotion to the brand, each Ekin is then invited to have the Nike ‘swoosh’ tattooed on their ankle ahead of their ‘graduation’.

Hmmm, tattoos…