Fix the Culture, Not the People: Lessons from the Dean of Dumbassery
Garry Ridge, Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company and Founder of The Learning Moment, shares his playbook for building a tribal culture: five foundations, the Maniac Pledge, and learning moments that helped WD-40 reach 93% employee engagement while growing revenue sevenfold.
Building a tribal culture starts with a simple shift: stop trying to fix people and start shaping the environment they work in. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, Garry Ridge, Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company and Founder of The Learning Moment, shares how he led WD-40 Company for 25 years on a culture where people belong, matter, and go home happy.
🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach, Mike Liwski and Tullio Siragusa
🎧 Produced by Tullio Siragusa
In this episode we explore:
• The five foundations of a tribal culture: belonging, mattering, choice, safety, and coaching
• Why culture equals values plus behavior times consistency
• How to measure culture through engagement, retention, and the hidden cost of toxic workplaces
• The Maniac Pledge and the four pillars of care, candor, accountability, and responsibility
• Why the leader owns the Petri dish and has to be brave enough to remove the toxins
• What love looks like when someone is not living the company’s values
Garry’s case starts with math: if 30% of people passionately execute the strategy, the result shrinks, and at 80% it multiplies. His foundations are simple but not easy, and time is not your friend.
WD-40 Company proves the point. With 93% employee engagement, it delivered a 15% compounded annual growth rate in total shareholder return, grew revenue sevenfold, and reached 176 countries. Toxic cultures, he warns, pay for it in attrition and brain drain.
He would replace the annual review with quarterly conversations: are you okay, what’s on your mind, what’s getting in your way. And he treats the leader as owner of the Petri dish, responsible for removing toxins, even a top salesperson.
WD-40 itself came from learning: Formula 40 worked after 39 attempts that did not, which Garry calls 39 learning moments. His book, Any Dumbass Can Do It, holds up the donkey as the model: determined and able to carry heavy loads.
Turning stated values into everyday behavior is the same consistency Zero Company helps purpose-driven brands bring to how they show up for their audiences.
Key Takeaways
• (2:39) On why culture is a responsibility, not a perk: “happy people build happy families, happy families build happy communities, and happy communities build a happy world.”
• (4:53) On why there are no shortcuts: “culture equals values plus behavior times consistency.”
• (8:44) On the behaviors that quietly damage a team: “Their ego eats their empathy instead of their empathy eating their ego.”
• (17:06) On the Maniac Pledge he created at WD-40 Company: “I am responsible for taking action, asking questions, getting answers and making decisions.”
• (24:59) On keeping culture healthy during growth: “You own the Petri dish as the leader. You need to ensure that you feed the good ingredients so they grow. But you have to be brave enough to attack the toxins.”
• (35:18) On what love sounds like when someone is off track: “the you I know and love is not in this room today. What’s on your mind and what’s getting in your way?”
FAQ
What is a tribal culture in the workplace?
Garry Ridge, Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company, describes a tribal culture as one built on five foundations: people feel they belong, their work matters, values free them to make choices, fear of failure is replaced by learning, and leaders coach rather than manage.
How do you measure company culture?
Garry Ridge says culture is measured over time, not in 90-day intervals, through engagement, retention, attrition, and employment costs. At WD-40 Company, 93% employee engagement went alongside a 15% compounded annual growth rate in total shareholder return.
What is the WD-40 Maniac Pledge?
The Maniac Pledge, which Garry Ridge introduced at WD-40 Company, commits each person to take responsibility for taking action, asking questions, getting answers, and making decisions, instead of waiting to be told and blaming others for what they did not know.
When leaders fix the culture instead of the people, more of them go home happy. Learn more about Garry Ridge and The Learning Moment at thelearningmoment.net and on LinkedIn. See his guest profile, watch the video, read the companion post Culture Is the Work: Turning Values into Everyday Performance, or explore more Featured Guest Series conversations.
Author | Coach | Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company
Garry Ridge is the Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company and a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from National University, recognized for his lifetime contribution to leadership, organizational culture, and workplace transformation.
Now, as The Culture Coach, Garry helps leaders create workplaces where people feel valued and inspired. Through The Learning Moment, he partners with executives to build cultures of collaboration and purpose-driven performance. He also serves on the boards of The Gorilla Glue Company and Eastridge Workforce Solutions.
A sought-after speaker and author, Garry co-authored Helping People Win at Work with Ken Blanchard and contributed to Work is Love Made Visible. His latest book, USA Today's Best Seller, Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It, reinforces his belief that great leadership is simple—but not easy.
Known as The Dean of Dumbassery, Garry champions “learning moments,” encouraging leaders to turn mistakes into growth opportunities. His core philosophy: when people feel safe, valued, and connected, they do their best work—and go home happy, strengthening families, communities, and the world.
