Using Organisational Culture frameworks and Chapman Cha's assertions, the report discusses artefacts, values and culture of my 3D printing startup, Chizel.

1. Organizational Culture & Company Best Practices
Date: 26/09/2018
Akash Behl
MBA candidate at Sauder
University of British Columbia

2. Chizel – Culture and Best Practices
In 2014, my college mate and I started a 3D printing (manufacturing) business - Chizel - in
India. The core values of Chizel were ‘Creative Intelligence’, ‘Individualistic Attitude
toward Progress’ and ‘Fail Fast’, and these represented the 3 legged stool for us, failing to
deliver on either one of them could be detrimental for the progress of the entire organization
(Figure 2).
As a growing bootstrapped organization, we could not ensure ‘employment security’ and
‘high compensation on organizational performance’ for the people (Pfeffer & Veiga, 2004)
but what we did ensure was:
- Minimal status differences
(eliminated hierarchy by consciously restricting employees from calling us ‘sirs’)
- Thorough sharing of all but internal financial information
(created a norm to sit together after office hours to discuss learnings and shortcomings
on a daily basis)
- Uber-extensive training modules
(documented comprehensive training procedures to be followed by every new entrant
to our family).
Artefact: Miniature Figurines (Figure 1)
The newly hired employees had to undergo a process called ‘The First Scan’ which basically
meant 3D scanning people to create a digital model, which was converted into a miniature
figurine representing their particular interest, hobby or passion. This exercise helped build
affective trust among people, bringing them closer to form a cohesive unit of a high
performing team.
The figurines not only corroborated the importance of a self-motivated individual toward the
holistic success of an organization (Individualistic Attitude toward Progress) but also
exemplified that a well-designed functioning prototype can be manufactured only if the
digital model - as an input to the manufacturing process - is intelligent enough. (Creative
Intelligence).
‘The 2 Hour Night’
The following company story represented our early days of struggles, when the two of us
would be virtually everything that Chizel wanted us to be and do everything that had to be
done to stay afloat during tough times.

3. After 2 months of excruciating sales meetings and networking, we converted a huge deal for
architectural prototyping of a famous establishment in Mumbai. The project had to be
submitted on a virtually impossible timeline - the next 12 hours. Considering the size of the
client and the possibility of repeat business, we took it up without a second thought. Now, for
a simple prototype to be manufactured, the input in the machine was a digital design and
output would be a finished prototype, without much human intervention during the
manufacturing process. But this was a complex design, far from what is termed simple from
industry standards, and that required constant vigilance during the manufacturing process.
The plan was simple - work in shifts with a 2 hour window, starting from 8 in the night to 10
the next morning. One of us would stay in the office, spend 2 hours overlooking the machine,
go home and take a brief nap, after which the other would replace him.
We specifically remember this night as a turning point in our relationship as change makers,
and we would reminisce snippets of the story when we felt defeated. That sleepless night
could easily be termed as a critical moment in our journey that helped us coalesce into a
team. It was so popular in the organization that it came to be known as the ‘The 2 Hour
Night’ and would be retold on several different occasions by our people, as a mark of respect
for the underlying value of our teams - people who never accept defeat. Never.
The nature of Chizel’s culture displayed Developmental and Clan culture characteristics
with a strong focus on relationship-based processes and a balance between external and
internal focus (Cameron, 2006). It was in perfect consonance with the broader mission of the
organization, and we consistently moved forward with a two-fold strategy for business
growth:
- Value creation via differentiated products
With a strong inclination toward ‘Creative Intelligence’, we had a preference for design
thinkers. People with an eye for functionally sustainable designs were a huge asset for the
organization to help it grow aggressively.
According to Chapman and Cha, people in an organization might refrain from creative
expression of ideas because they might be at a risk of being perceived as ignorant (Chapman
& Cha, 2003). However, we had let go of unproductive restrictions and boundaries in the
organization, providing an open platform to let people express themselves. For instance, a
huge white board was placed in the main hall of the office, and people were encouraged to
sketch, draw or write anything that they felt could be transformed into a product design. This
process of inclusive brainstorming led to some important milestones in the organization’s
career graph, helping Chizel introduce some very innovative product lines and verticals in
the future. Even people not in the core design team were intrinsically motivated to contribute,
not only to their respective job functions but to the overall growth of the company. So
selective was the hiring and such was the collaborative environment that we were lucky not
to have ‘Brilliant Jerks’ in the organization.
- Quick turnarounds (strategically executed pivots)

4. As a bootstrapped organization, Chizel had to have a very fast turnaround time in shutting
down product lines, to not impact the bottom lines adversely. Maintaining a balance between
wild, out of the box product ideas and those with a wide scope for sustainable growth
opportunities, we developed strategies based on out third core value of ‘Failing Fast’.
Depending on the scale of investment on and expected returns from a certain product line, we
provided ourselves not more than 3-6 months on a new idea to display disruption. Failing
which, we would never let the shortfall impact us emotionally.
According to Chapman and Cha, the founders’ initial model of employment relation and
hiring based on culture fit impacted the future success of the firm (Chapman & Cha, 2003).
Likewise, the strength of our culture was primary attributable to the kind of people we hired.
For instance, we were passionate about the impact reading can have toward personal
development, trying invariably to get readers on the team. This way we built a strong culture
of inquisitive readers and understanding the importance of ‘sweet-spot’ activities, we
consciously tried to build the habit of reading into routines.
Our recruitment and selection criteria were very unique, in that we emphasized that people
resonate with us before we try to get to know them. We would always talk to them
informally, over a walk through our office, which was full of 3D printed models of all the
projects that we had not only successfully completed but also those that we had failed to. We
termed that shelf as the ‘Shelf of Success’ (Figure 3).
There was a very important question we would ask during the interview, ‘Would you be
willing to do ‘The 2 Hour Night’ if your salary for the last 3 months was due?’ It represented
a very common situation for a growing organization and was very important for us to
understand how willing they were to be a part of the next revolution that we were about to
start. People who said yes are still with us as a core member of the strong team that we have.

5. Appendices:
Figure 1:
Source: www.chizelprints.in
Figure 2:
Our vision and mission align perfectly with the three values that together represent
Chizel.
Figure 3:
Source: www.chizelprints.in
Creative
Intelligence
Fail Fast
Individualistic
attitude
toward
progress

6. References:
Pfeffer, J, & Veiga, J.F. (2004). Putting People First for Organizational Success, Managerial
and Organizational Reality : Stories of Life and Work, Academy of Management, 31-47.
Chatman, J. A., & Eunyoung Cha, S. (2003). Leading by Leveraging Culture. California
Management Review, 45(4), 20–34. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=bth&AN=11057040&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Cameron, K (2006). An Introduction to the Competing Values Framework. 11.11. Retrieved
from
http://www.thercfgroup.com/files/resources/an_introduction_to_the_competing_values_fr
amework.pdf