A few years ago, Sebastian Africano saw something he liked, and stole it.

But in the best way possible.

Sebastian, the Executive Director of Trees, Water & People, is a graduate of the Small Giants Leadership Academy class of 2023. Each year, Leadership Academy participants gather for a graduation trip filled with celebration, reflection, and company visits. Sebastian’s class visited Text-Em-All, a longtime shining example of Small Giants values.

There, at their bright and inviting Dallas office, Sebastian was handed Text-Em-All’s Culture Code: a colorful booklet designed to put into words who they are, what they believe, and how their culture actually comes to life.

He liked this document so much that he stole it.

Sebastian brought it back to Trees, Water & People, and he and his team took the time to carefully create their own Culture Code. Same name, same format, but different content and feel coming from two very different industries.

When Trees, Water & People completed their Culture Code, Sebastian sent some copies to the team at Text-Em-All, along with a note:

“Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.”

Around here, we have a name for that: Rob & Deploy™.

The biggest thief in the Small Giants Community

Brad Herrmann, the co-founder of Text-Em-All, was delighted by Sebastian’s act of Rob & Deploy™. After all, when he was accepting his Hall of Fame award at the 2026 Small Giants Summit, he said something that made me (and the whole room) laugh:

“I’m the biggest thief in the Small Giants Community.”

He was joking. But he also wasn’t.

Over the years, Brad has borrowed plenty of ideas from other Small Giants companies. He and his co-founder, Hai Nguyen, brought those ideas back to Text-Em-All, pulled them apart, adapted them, combined them with things they were already doing, and made them their own.

The result isn’t a patchwork of other companies’ cultures. It’s distinctly their own. And now, other leaders walk through Text-Em-All’s doors, see what they’ve built, and steal from them.

That’s the part of Rob & Deploy™ that I love: the circle keeps going.

Stealing is only half the job

Rob & Deploy™ isn’t really about copying a great idea. It’s about recognizing one.

You visit another company and see a meeting ritual that gets everyone engaged. You hear a leader explain how they share financials with their team. You see a tool that solves a problem you’ve been wrestling with for months.

You think: we need that.

So you take it home.

But then comes the important part: Deploy.

Because what works at Text-Em-All, a mass texting tech company, won’t work the same way at Tree, Water & People, a conservation nonprofit. And what works for a 200-person manufacturer might look ridiculous inside a 15-person professional services firm.

The idea is the starting point, not the instruction manual.

Take what’s useful. Understand why it works. Then customize it until it feels like yours.

Sometimes you don't even realize you're doing it

Not every Rob & Deploy™ moment starts with someone saying, “I’m stealing that.”

Sometimes it happens slowly.

You read Small Giants. You go to a Summit. You visit another company at a Passport event. You hear three different leaders talk about Open Book Management, and eventually you start wondering whether your team should understand the financials differently.

Someone mentions psychological safety. The phrase sticks with you. Six months later, you find yourself reaching out to someone like Zach Mercurio, Ph.D. or Tom Walter because you want to understand what it could look like inside your own company.

One idea becomes another idea becomes a conversation becomes a practice.

That’s how communities change companies.

The question to take away

There’s a reason Rob & Deploy™ works especially well in the Small Giants Community.

People share.

There’s a generosity of spirit here that says: this worked for us, and if it can help you too, take it.

That matters because companies that choose to put people, purpose, and culture at the center of their businesses are still swimming against the current. There’s no reason each of us needs to figure everything out alone.

So here’s what I’d ask you this week: what have you seen another company do that you should steal?

And maybe more importantly: what are you doing that someone else should steal from you?

Rob hungrily. Deploy thoughtfully. Then open the doors and let someone rob you back.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and tell me the best thing you’ve ever Robbed & Deployed. I read everything, and the good ones might just get stolen for a future Monday Mojo.

Cheers,

Jean