All things being equal... what isn't?

The Culture Litmus Test: A single question to assess a company's culture, find the right fit, and build a stronger team

A couple years ago, I had lunch with one of my favorite colleagues. She was a rockstar when we worked together, and I knew any company would be lucky to have her on the team. But, after just eight months, she left her dream job. On paper, it had everything: prestigious company, great compensation, exciting product.

"What happened?" I asked.

She sighed and said, "I don’t know exactly… it just didn’t feel right. Everything I tried hit resistance. I didn't see it until I was in it.”

Her story isn't unique. I've watched brilliant people join companies only to leave shortly after because of cultural misalignment. These departures are costly for everyone involved — for the promising leader who loses time and confidence, and for the company that invests in recruiting and onboarding.

But how do you evaluate something as seemingly abstract as culture? Most companies talk about their values in similar ways: innovation, customer-focus, integrity. Yet we know that companies with identical stated values can operate completely differently.

I've found one question that brings culture into sharp focus:

"All things being equal… what isn't?"

This single question — what I call the Culture Litmus Test — can reveal more about a company's priorities and decision-making process than hours of traditional interviews.

Why culture matters

Most people think about their career as a ladder — a ladder that they climb, rung-by-rung, entirely on their own. A better metaphor is to think of your career as an “escalator”. Factors outside of your own efforts can help carry you towards your goals or work against you.

In “Impact = Environment x Skills: How to Make Career Decisions”, Bangaly Kaba describes how your environment dramatically influences your ability to make an impact. Your environment sets the constraints and opportunities through which your skills translate to impact.

There's another word for the system you're operating within — culture.

Culture isn't just about free snacks or whether people socialize outside work. It's the largely unwritten rules about how decisions get made. It's what gets prioritized when everything can't be. It's how conflicts get resolved. It determines whether you'll thrive or merely survive in a role.

When you're swimming with the current of a culture, work feels energizing and meaningful. When you're swimming against it, even small tasks become exhausting.

The Culture Litmus Test, explained

The beauty of "All things being equal, what isn't?" is its simplicity. The question forces clarity by asking what actually takes priority when tough decisions need to be made.

This question is easy to answer for companies with a strong culture. At Amazon, when you ask: "All things being equal, what isn't?" the answer is resoundingly clear: the customer. Amazon's first and most important leadership principle is Customer Obsession. Amazon says, "Leaders start with the customer and work backwards."

Customer Obsession is why Amazon will try seemingly crazy ideas, like the Treasure Truck. It's also why they keep iterating on failed ideas, like the Fire Phone, to eventually home in on transformational ideas like Alexa.

This question is equally easy to answer for Apple. "All things being equal, what isn't?" Design. Apple’s culture isn’t solely about what customers say they want; it’s about envisioning and designing an unparalleled user experience. When faced with tough decisions, Apple prioritizes a seamless fusion of hardware, software, and services. This commitment to integrative design often leads to choices that might seem counterintuitive from a pure customer-obsession standpoint, yet are essential in building a cohesive and elegant product ecosystem.

Let's look at a few more examples:

• All things being equal at Google, what isn't? Information. Google prioritizes initiatives that aggregate, understand, and harness the power of information.

• All things being equal at Booking.com, what isn't? Bookings. Put another way, Booking.com prioritizes giving travelers the confidence to book. That means leading on prices and having the most accurate/comprehensive metadata about accommodations.

• All things being equal at Meta, what isn't? Time spent. Facebook looks entirely different over time — morphing from year to year based on where users are spending their time. Today, Facebook is video-centric — not because video is central to Facebook’s mission “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”, but because it drives significant minutes watched.

The power of the Culture Litmus Test is that it cuts through aspirational values to reveal operational values — not what the company says it values, but what it actually optimizes for in practice.

Applying the test

How do you use this test effectively when evaluating a potential role, team, or company?

Start by asking the question directly. "If you had to make a tough decision and all things seemed equal, what factor would break the tie?" Follow up with: "Can you give me an example of when this happened recently?" Ask about a recent difficult decision where two options seemed equal. How did they decide? What ultimately tipped the scales?

Listen carefully to the answers you get from different people in the organization. Consistency indicates a strong, clear culture. Inconsistency suggests either a weak culture or one in transition.

Here are some patterns to watch for:

Green flags:

• Consistent answers across different levels and departments

• Concrete examples that demonstrate the priority in action

• Values that align with sustainable business practices

• Answers that resonate with your personal values

Red flags:

• Vague, inconsistent responses

• Examples that contradict the stated value

• "Quarterly revenue" as the primary tiebreaker

• Different answers from leadership versus individual contributors

Building your own cultural clarity

If you're a leader, the Culture Litmus Test isn't just for evaluating potential employers — it's a powerful tool for strengthening your own team's culture.

Start by asking yourself: When you and your team face tradeoffs, what consistently wins? Is it customer delight? Innovation? Speed? Quality? This isn't about what you wish would win, but what actually does in practice.

Then ask your team the same question. If you get inconsistent answers, you have an opportunity to create clarity. Remember: if the answer isn't clear, then the culture isn't clear. This often leads to decision paralysis, inconsistent prioritization, and team frustration.

The most effective leaders are explicit about their tiebreakers. They communicate clearly what wins when all things seem equal. This clarity helps teams make aligned decisions independently, which is the hallmark of a scaled organization.

Cultural clarity helps teams make aligned decisions independently, which is the hallmark of a scaled organization.

REI provides a powerful example. Their Culture Litmus Test answer is clear: environmental stewardship. It's why they launched their "Opt Outside" campaign, closing stores on Black Friday and encouraging employees and customers to enjoy the outdoors instead of shopping. This clear prioritization attracts employees and customers who share these values, creating a virtuous cycle.

REI is willing to trade off the biggest day for retail sales to send a clear signal about its culture and values.

Revenue is a byproduct, not a cultural value

What's the most common failure mode for culture? It's when the answer is “revenue”.

Of course, every company needs to generate revenue. However, strong cultures see revenue as a byproduct of how they understand the world — of the trade-offs they're willing to make to create value. When "revenue" is the primary tiebreaker, it's an early warning signal. The strongest companies optimize for something that drives sustainable revenue as a byproduct, not revenue directly.

Companies preoccupied by revenue will likely over-focus on the short-term at the expense of long-term value. Amazon doesn't optimize for quarterly profits; they optimize for customer experience, knowing that delighted customers come back to buy, over and over again.

A revenue-first culture doesn't mean a company is doomed, but it suggests cultural challenges that will impact your experience there. Teams in these environments often find themselves constantly shifting priorities, chasing short-term wins, and sacrificing what they believe is right for what will immediately boost numbers.

From question to action

Next time you're evaluating a workplace culture—whether in your current role or considering a new one—deploy the Culture Litmus Test. Simply ask: "All things being equal, what isn't?"

This deceptively simple question reveals operational truth rather than aspirational values. It uncovers what actually happens when tough decisions need to be made.

For job seekers, this test can prevent the painful experience of my colleague who left her "dream job" after just eight months. It's a tool to see beyond recruiter talking points and empty value statements.

For leaders, it offers an opportunity to create the clarity your team craves. When everyone understands what truly matters, decisions become faster, more consistent, and require less escalation.

Culture isn't just a list of values on a wall—it's the invisible current that either propels your career forward or forces you to swim upstream every day. The Culture Litmus Test helps you see that current before you dive in, so you can find or build an environment where your work feels meaningful and your impact is multiplied.

In a world where companies say “everything is important”, knowing what isn't equal might be your most valuable career insight.

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What's your experience with cultural fit? Have you used similar approaches to evaluate a company's true priorities? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.