What "Culture" is, what it isn't, and how to harness the best of it.

By now, you probably know that company culture is not defined by happy hour or gaming areas at the office. The Covid era finally forced a broad understanding that culture isn’t defined by the office at all. However helpful it’s been in the past, being in the office, even being in the same place at the same time, is a culture tool, but it’s by no means the only one, nor is it the most important one. Other culture tools are company values that get us into action around a shared purpose, good quality feedback, and leadership practices, just to name a few. Alas, none of these artifacts or activities are culture, they facilitate culture.???

So, what is culture?

Culture is the most unifying combination of forces amongst a group of people regardless of whether or not they produce positive experiences or outcomes. Said another way, the culture of your company is self-creating and self-sustaining (for better or for worse) regardless of how much attention you’re paying to it, and it will help to make or break your team’s success. The culture of a company can be toxic or a major positive and a lot of things in between.?

Where you can impact culture is by proactively assessing the qualities and attributes of your team, elevate what works, name what doesn’t work, and then take an explicit stand for what is acceptable and what isn’t going to be tolerated. Once you define some guardrails, you'll decide which tools will be helpful in containing and reinforcing the best of the culture that you’ve highlighted through your assessments.?

What you’ll have is a culture that speaks for itself, attracts great talent, and enables them to grow with your company’s needs. This kind of culture - one that is intentionally built and strategically maintained - will not only survive major company changes but will be part of leading major changes.?

Helping companies clarify culture is one of the best parts of my work. There's a deep satisfaction in making the implicit explicit, raising a team's awareness of itself and their ability to connect with each other and their customers more impactfully.

Reach out and let's explore how to make your company culture work for you.