Golden Rituals
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
Great families have a small list of rituals that every member knows - they're the culture made visible.
Shishir Mehrotra learned from Bing Gordon (founder of Electronic Arts) that great companies have a very small list of 'golden rituals.' Three rules: they're named, every employee knows them by their first Friday, and they're templated.
Amazon has six-pagers. Google has OKRs. Salesforce has V2MOM.
At Coda, their ritual is called Dory/Pulse. Everyone writes their opinion before anyone speaks - so you're unbiased by what others think. Then questions get upvoted so they discuss what matters most.
Rituals are a mirror of culture. Ask anyone about their company's culture and they'll describe it through rituals.
Families work the same way.
What are your family's golden rituals? Do they have names? Does everyone know them? Is there a pattern you follow?
Maybe it's Sunday pancakes. Or the bedtime story routine. Or how you handle apologies. Or the Friday movie night vote. These tiny repeated patterns aren't trivial - they're how your kids will remember and describe your family.
Shishir's insight: rituals are the product you build for your employees. For families, rituals are the culture you're building for your children. Name them. Make them consistent. Let them become the thing your kids brag about.
PM Theme: Building team culture
Parenting Theme: Creating family rituals
“Great companies have a very small list of golden rituals. There are three rules: number one, they're named. Number two, every employee knows them by their first Friday. Number three, they're templated.”Shishir Mehrotra · 00:26:29
“Rituals are a mirror of culture... When you ask people about their culture, the way they'll answer the question is through rituals.”Shishir Mehrotra · 00:30:29
