[aggronn]

This article reads as "This is not company culture, this other thing is". But goes into very little detail about why. The only description of what culture generally is, is this:

> It’s about values and mindset.

What if your mission statement is "We value a fun work environemnt", or "We value our employees"? Is that /not/ an acceptable culture value? If you don't think it is, then the rest of my post won't be of interest to you, but I'd be interested to know why "we value winning" is, but "we value a fun workplace" isn't.

If it is, then how would you convey it to prospective employees? Do you just tell them that and hope they understand what that means?

I think a much more compelling (dare I say, meaningful?) way to convey those kinds of values is to say how they're implemented. If you say you value constant learning/professional development, people have to take it on faith that you are on the cutting edge, or that you give them freedom. A more meaningful thing to say, I think, would be to give specific examples. The extends to human values, like "we value a fun, casual workplace--we have a video game room, no dress code, and flexible hours".

So, to make an analogy: I think that ping pong tables are to "we value a playful office environment" as "we don't have team leaders" is to OP's inspiration section.

[jacquesm]

> We value a fun work environemnt

If a ping-pong table is on your stuff-to-buy list for the first 3 years or so you've either hit one out of the park or you're as good as dead.

[wooster]

Ping pong tables cost about ~$150. That seems pretty cheap for stress relief and entertainment.

I'd be careful not to read too much data into tiny signals like whether a company has a ping pong table.

[innguest]

As a ping pong hobbyist and an employee at a company that does have a ping pong table, I can assure you a $150 ping pong table is not good enough for anyone that actually plays ping pong because they think it's fun and they'd like to get better at it over time. It might be good enough for when you have nothing to do and you're just killing time. If you care about the game, then a ping pong table goes for ~$1500.