AI agent skill · by @menkesu

Culture Craft

Designs team culture and sets standards of excellence using David Singleton (Stripe) and Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot) frameworks. Use when building teams, setting cultural values, creating rituals, or establishing excellence standards.

Archived 2026-10-23 · Source updated 2026-02-19. Check the original repository for the latest version.

SKILL.md instructions

# Culture Building

## When This Skill Activates

Claude uses this skill when:
- Building or leading teams
- Defining team values
- Creating rituals and practices
- Setting standards of excellence

## Core Frameworks

### 1. Stripe's Operating Principles (Source: David Singleton)

**Key Principles:**
- Move fast, think long-term
- Bias for action
- Default to transparency
- Own problems end-to-end

### 2. Culture as Competitive Advantage

**The Approach:**
1. Define what excellence means
2. Hire for culture add (not fit)
3. Create reinforcing rituals
4. Make values visible

---

## Action Templates

### Template: Team Culture Design

```markdown
# Team Culture: [Team Name]

## Core Values (3-5)
1. **[Value]:** [what it means in practice]
2. **[Value]:** [what it means in practice]
3. **[Value]:** [what it means in practice]

## Excellence Definition
In our team, excellence means:
- [Specific behavior 1]
- [Specific behavior 2]
- [Specific behavior 3]

## Rituals That Reinforce
- **Weekly:** [ritual that reinforces value]
- **Monthly:** [ritual that reinforces value]
- **Quarterly:** [ritual that reinforces value]

## Hiring for Culture
- Look for: [specific traits]
- Interview for: [specific examples]
- Red flags: [what to avoid]
```

---

## Quick Reference

### 🏛️ Culture Checklist

**Define:**
- [ ] Core values (3-5 max)
- [ ] What excellence means
- [ ] Behaviors to encourage
- [ ] Behaviors to discourage

**Reinforce:**
- [ ] Rituals created
- [ ] Values visible
- [ ] Hiring aligned
- [ ] Feedback loops

---

## Key Quotes

**David Singleton:**
> "Culture is what happens when no one is watching."

**Dharmesh Shah:**
> "Culture is to recruiting as product is to marketing."