This week, ByteDance has updated its core values (internally called 字节范, using Beijing dialect and officially translated as  “ByteStyles”). The new set of values:

Always day 1
Champion Diversity and Inclusion
Be candid and clear
Be curious and grounded
Be courageous and aim for the highest
Growing together

In the set above, the parts highlighted in blue are different from the existing culture code, adopted in 2020:

Aim for the Highest
Be grounded and courageous
Be open and humble
Be candid and clear
Always Day 1
Champion Diversity and Inclusion

Also, the sequence of the core values have shifted – signifying the shifting priorities as the organisation matures, especially now facing macro challenges at home and growing international teams.

This set of core culture values further shifts from an earlier one, adopted in 2018:

Aim for the Highest
Be grounded and courageous
Be open and humble
Be candid and clear
Always Day 1

Although ByteDance recently faced some backlash in TikTok’s ecommerce unit (TikTok Shop) in the UK, the company is arguably the more successful amongst Chinese tech giants in global expansion.

Some of the issues tackled, challenges faced and lessons learnt by ByteDance as well as other Chinese tech giants are captured in our upcoming book in collaboration with Professor Guoli Chen: Seeing the Unseen: Behind Chinese Tech Giants’ Global Venturing.

The book will be published by Wiley in the United States in September – you can pre-order on Amazon here (ebook coming soon):

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Thanks for reading The Low Down (TLD), the blog by the team at Momentum Works. Got a different perspective or have a burning opinion to share? Let us know at [email protected].