{"id":137363,"date":"2024-12-03T23:20:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T03:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=137363"},"modified":"2026-01-22T15:13:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:13:35","slug":"steven-bartlett-company-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What do you need to build a thriving company culture<\/a> in today’s business landscape? How can leaders adapt their cultural approach as their organization evolves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Steven Bartlett, company culture should fit the particular stage of growth your business is in. In The Diary of a CEO<\/em>, he lays out the distinct approaches to team dynamics<\/a> and organizational values<\/a> that are required at each phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to discover organizational culture<\/a> strategies that can transform your business from a startup to a sustainable enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Steven Bartlett on Company Culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Steven Bartlett, company culture\u2014the collective working habits and underlying philosophy of your team\u2014determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and, ultimately, your business\u2019s success or failure. However, the ideal culture differs depending on what stage in its lifespan your business is in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When launching a new business, encourage your core team to fanatically prioritize the company’s success above all else.<\/strong> Intense devotion and single-minded focus are required to get a new business up and running. In this stage, treat your company like a cult: Make your employees feel like they\u2019re all a part of the same special group that\u2019s going to change the world<\/a>. Position yourself<\/a> as a visionary leader<\/a> for whom failure is impossible so they can get excited to follow you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In Built to Last<\/em><\/a>, Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras also recommend establishing a \u201ccult-like\u201d company culture\u2014not just at the beginning of a company\u2019s lifespan, but in perpetuity. To make employees feel more like they\u2019re a part of an exclusive, important group, create a unique vocabulary that only your company\u2019s insiders understand. Additionally, Collins and Porras contend that you shouldn\u2019t channel workers\u2019 excitement toward yourself as a visionary leader. Rather, build up their passion for the company itself, and what it stands for<\/em>. One way to do this is to highlight the importance of your company\u2019s history and traditions when training new employees<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett warns that, although this kind of fanatical culture is effective at building momentum<\/a> quickly, it\u2019s impossible to maintain forever. People can only wholly devote their lives to a mission for so long before they get burnt out. For this reason, once your company is well-established, allow your culture to mature into one that\u2019s more supportive of employees’ long-term well-being and loyalty.<\/strong> Keep your team motivated<\/a> and engaged over the course of years by giving them autonomy over their work and protecting them from excessive emotional stress\u2014while ensuring that they\u2019re still doing work they can be proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counterpoint: Prioritize Employee Well-Being From the Beginning<\/strong>

In It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Crazy at Work<\/em><\/a>, business owners Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson contend that it’s crucial to establish a work culture that prioritizes employees\u2019 long-term well-being from the beginning<\/em>\u2014and they\u2019d likely argue that this is true even in the early stages of a startup.

They assert that most companies set ever-increasing revenue targets with the goal of achieving maximum growth at all costs<\/a>. As a part of this process, companies accept investments and take out loans in an attempt to accelerate their growth as quickly as possible. However, this strategy puts unnecessary pressure on the team\u2014if the company doesn\u2019t hit its growth targets<\/a>, it goes bankrupt. This pressure can cause employees to quickly burn out.

Fried and Hansson argue that instead, companies should pursue humbler goals<\/a>: Be financially sustainable, deliver a great product or service, and gradually improve your business over time. Although your startup might not become the biggest company in the world, it can still become a great success\u2014employees who aren\u2019t overwhelmed can even be more productive<\/a>.

Fried and Hansson\u2019s strategy for supporting employees\u2019 long-term well-being differs from Bartlett\u2019s, too. Rather than emphasizing personal autonomy, they recommend providing generous benefits that directly support employees\u2019 lives outside<\/em> of work<\/a>. For instance, they pay for their employees to take three weeks of vacation every year and subsidize personal education that has nothing to do with work, like cooking classes. Fried and Hansson state that when employees cultivate a fulfilling personal life, their overall quality of life improves, making them less likely to burn out on the job. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How to Shape Your Company\u2019s Culture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett explains how to nurture your desired company culture: Articulate the fundamental values that define your organization (at this stage), and ensure that they\u2019re woven into every one of its operational protocols and routines.<\/strong> For instance, the CEO of a tech startup might adopt the mantra of “victory requires speed” and center the organization on rapid innovation. The company requires all meetings to be held standing up to ensure they\u2019re as short and efficient as possible, and it crowns one employee every day as the \u201cMomentum Maker\u201d to recognize those who make the most rapid progress in a single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In Excellence Wins<\/em><\/a>, Horst Schulze contends that once you\u2019ve articulated the values that define your organization and codified them into a set of protocols, you should require all teams to briefly meet and discuss one of them at the start of every work shift<\/a>. This way, you ensure that employees understand the cultural values behind your rules and have them at the front of their minds every day.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Steven Bartlett, company culture can be shaped also by identifying employees who epitomize the culture you want to see and promoting them to managerial positions<\/strong> so they can exert a stronger positive influence on other team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In Radical Candor<\/em><\/a>, Kim Scott agrees that managers have a strong influence over the culture of their team, and she adds that they need to be fully aware of what kind of influence they have. To learn this, managers can build open, honest relationships with their team members<\/a> so those employees are unafraid to share candid feedback.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartlett also recommends firing employees who are consistently unwilling to adapt to your desired culture. Although firing people is unpleasant, it\u2019s necessary: Negative attitudes and habits spread easily, and if you don\u2019t remove them, it\u2019ll prevent many of your other employees from reaching their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In No Rules Rules<\/em><\/a>, Reed Hastings explains how Netflix takes a more proactive approach to maintaining an elite workplace culture. Netflix encourages managers to regularly assess whether they\u2019d fight to keep an employee\u2014and fire that employee if they wouldn\u2019t<\/a>. This does more than ensure that no negative attitudes or habits are poisoning the culture: It also ensures that there are only productive attitudes and habits<\/a>, thus inspiring every employee to meet this high standard.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do you need to build a thriving company culture in today’s business landscape? How can leaders adapt their cultural approach as their organization evolves? According to Steven Bartlett, company culture should fit the particular stage of growth your business is in. In The Diary of a CEO, he lays out the distinct approaches to team dynamics and organizational values that are required at each phase. Keep reading to discover organizational culture strategies that can transform your business from a startup to a sustainable enterprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":137371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,14,30],"tags":[1688],"class_list":["post-137363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-management","category-work","tag-the-diary-of-a-ceo","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nSteven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\"},\"wordCount\":1130,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Diary of a CEO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Management\",\"Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\",\"name\":\"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg\",\"width\":1344,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"A team of one man and three women working in an open workspace illustrates company culture\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time - Shortform Books","description":"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time","og_description":"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1344,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time","datePublished":"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/"},"wordCount":1130,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","keywords":["The Diary of a CEO"],"articleSection":["Business","Management","Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/","name":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-04T03:20:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-22T19:13:35+00:00","description":"Steven Bartlett says company culture determines the quality of your team\u2019s work and\u2014ultimately\u2014your business\u2019s success or failure. Learn more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","width":1344,"height":768,"caption":"A team of one man and three women working in an open workspace illustrates company culture"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steven-bartlett-company-culture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Steven Bartlett: Company Culture Should Evolve Over Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/team-working-in-open-workspace.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137363"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147773,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137363\/revisions\/147773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}