This article reads as "This is not company culture, this other thing is". But goes into very little detail about why. The only description of what culture generally is, is this:
> It’s about values and mindset.
What if your mission statement is "We value a fun work environemnt", or "We value our employees"? Is that /not/ an acceptable culture value? If you don't think it is, then the rest of my post won't be of interest to you, but I'd be interested to know why "we value winning" is, but "we value a fun workplace" isn't.
If it is, then how would you convey it to prospective employees? Do you just tell them that and hope they understand what that means?
I think a much more compelling (dare I say, meaningful?) way to convey those kinds of values is to say how they're implemented. If you say you value constant learning/professional development, people have to take it on faith that you are on the cutting edge, or that you give them freedom. A more meaningful thing to say, I think, would be to give specific examples. The extends to human values, like "we value a fun, casual workplace--we have a video game room, no dress code, and flexible hours".
So, to make an analogy: I think that ping pong tables are to "we value a playful office environment" as "we don't have team leaders" is to OP's inspiration section.