Welcome to Worksheet, a newsletter about how people are working smarter in these turbulent times.
Every week, this newsletter will share analysis on the state of work by S. Mitra Kalita, a veteran media executive, author, and journalist.
In this week’s edition, Kalita looks at what other companies can learn from Peloton’s unusual corporate culture and strategy.
How to classify Peloton?
A wellness company, of course. There’s also hardware (you plug the bike or treadmill into the wall). Software (there’s an app). And a content recommendation engine (“Pop rides you’ll love!”). Talent management (Cody Rigsby’s got 561K Instagram followers, Ally Love 559K). A community platform (high five, #PelotonMoms). Logistics, apparel, retail, media, entertainment, we could keep going.
So Peloton is a complicated company. Yet perhaps no other brand has met this past year of curveballs better: a global pandemic, civil unrest, a historically divisive election. Sure, it’s been a bumpy ride, from commercials called sexist to ongoing delivery woes underscoring said success. But much of Peloton’s reckoning and transformation have taken place in the public eye, which makes stealing from its playbook all the easier.
Kalita goes on to write about Peloton’s commitment to diversity, embrace of employee individuality, its distribution strategy and other elements that any business can learn from.