Explaining a Company's Culture through a Logistics Table example

How is an Organisation's Culture Built?

When we were designing our office a few years back, many of us were fans of standing tables.

They gave you the feel of standing at a bar table while working. Different, fun, and supposedly healthier, too.

But over time, small things started coming in. A document there for “just a few minutes”, another person would leave a book, and before you know it, an unopened kaju katli box would make its way there. People began treating that table as a landing place for things. These little actions, repeated daily, started a new pattern.

The newer ARCians, after seeing how the table functioned rather than the intent- naturally started calling it the “Logistics Table.” A fancy name, but nowhere close to its original purpose. The new name caught on, across conversations, catch-ups and jokes. In no time, the name began to overshadow the original idea.

This is how company culture evolved through quiet repeated behaviours and stories made by people’s convenience. Once a standing table, it naturally became the “logistics table”. The intent shifted collectively: what people say shapes how everyone sees it.

Just because you kids start referring to your building neighbour as “second-floor wale uncle,” his real name doesn’t change. He’s still Sanjeev.

I wonder if this was a case of user behaviour changing? Or a purpose not being fulfilled? At last, it is the story of how an organisation's culture is built.