What can IBM learn from Israeli culture and vice versa
An Israeli IBMer’s take on both cultures
Since IBM acquired Red Hat in mid-2019, there were expectations for a major cultural shift inside The Big Blue.
As a company that’s been around over 110 years and operates in over 170 countries, culture seems to be the connecting tissue. Looking across business units, teams and roles, and also over time and technologies: culture is the glue that binds it all together. Or as often stated: the essence of IBM is the IBMers- it’s employees.
When Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat’s CEO was announced as the next IBM President, things became extra interesting. Red Hat is well known for its unique culture and the pride Red Hatters have for working there. It took a few more months until things settled down — if we can even use that term when reflecting on 2020 with all the adjustments people did to stay on some sort of track and keep a work routine.
To address the culture shift, IBM came out with a clear statement about these four aspired cultural attributes: radical candor, entrepreneur spirit, growth mindset and inclusion.
As an individual with deep interest in humans and in technology, observing (and participating) in tech companies’ organizational culture fascinates me. We work on the most innovative products out there, while the most basic operation system is still the humans making (or breaking) all of it.
I am also an Israeli- born and raised, working out of Israel for IBM as a User Experience Researcher on a global team. As a citizen of both cultures, I feel there’s a lot of overlap yet a significant gap between the two. So here’s how I would explain where IBM is trying to go in terms of culture, when using my perspective and translating it to Israeli terms:
Radical Candor — Dugri דוגרי
We have a term for that in Hebrew slang. It means- be direct, talk about what you really think. Be frank. The possible challenge when working for an American corporation with this natural tendency is how to dial it down- how to stay within the professional boundaries while being candid?
In my first months in IBM, I was completely excited about how interested everyone was in my ideas. It did take me a while until I was able to figure out that when people were saying to me “what an interesting idea!” they actually often meant quite the opposite. In Israel when someone thinks your idea is bad or irrelevant, they would probably say it in those exact words.
Radical candor offers just that- do it with empathy, care about the person you are sharing feedback with. Don’t be rude and stay polite — something Israelis can definitely improve in.
Entrepreneurial spirit — Chutzpa חוצפה
Looking at the history of Israel- it’s a very young country, established in 1948, with very low resources at the time. It was constituted mostly by Jewish immigrants from all over the world, escaping the ruins of World War 2.
The “can do” approach is part of the national ethos and supported the Zionist story of building a state from scratch. That story has evolved over the years to the Israeli Startup Nation often praised and admired around the world. This startup narrative is well heard and nurtured by the popular culture, as modern “rags to riches” fairy tales about entrepreneurs making their big breakthroughs.
Chutzpa isn’t just an Israeli term, but a pretty common phrase in American English too, influenced by Yiddish — a language Jews all over the world still speak today. It can be translated simply as being audacious.
Growth Mindset — Yalla, Kadima יאללה, קדימה
The idea that we haven’t utterly failed, rather we have not yet succeeded is a powerful hack of our brains.
The Israeli culture praises success and, like many others, likes a good Cinderella story- how do all hardships make the ultimate success even better? Personally, I find this approach lacking, even in the Startup Nation fairytale, only a fraction of companies or ideas actually make it to the “exit point” or to the ultimate success.
In order to embrace a true growth mindset, we should encourage learning from failure and setting examples of rising after them. So there’s more work required in that space to shift towards this desired culture. Israel loves its heroes, but the gloat of one’s failure often exceeds the healthy levels to a point that makes us intolerant to failures. And if people feel like success is the only option, this will allow risk taking by only a few that can afford it.
Inclusion — Everyone can participate הכלה
Who can afford to even try in current society?
Having said all the above about how much in common Israeli culture has with the aspired culture at IBM, we must keep in mind that this “Startup Nation” has a lot of work to do around becoming truly nation-wide. The current Israeli culture is still exclusive by default, accessible to a minority of the country’s population that are lucky enough to be born on the right neighborhood, with access to education and infrastructure.
The recent elections held in March 2021 revealed the simple reality that inclusion is a must-have in Israel. The Arab minority can not be sidelined anymore — at about 20% of the voter population, there cannot be a majority in the Israeli parliament without including a representation of Arab society, may it be within majority parties including Arab representatives or by the Arab parties themselves.
So while most cultural aspects of IBM’s culture seem pretty easy to adopt as an Israeli, at least one requires a deep shift in approach: inclusion.
The choice is pretty clear when we operate within the business world: every opportunity to do better needs to be embraced.
As an IBMer, I know exactly what is expected from me: be equal.
Will the Israeli culture follow this calling?
Ora Peled Nakash is a User Experience Researcher at IBM based in Haifa, Israel. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
