Two myths about organizational culture

For all the many articles that have been written about organizational culture, it’s still a very misunderstood topic. So here’s my attempt to dispel two myths that I see as pervasive — even amongst business leaders who mutter Drucker’s famous comment “culture eats strategy for breakfast” in their sleep. (Which btw, is really weird.)

Myth #1: Culture is the “soft stuff”

Too many leaders believe that culture is casual Fridays, pizza lunches, open door policies… And while those are undeniably part of culture, they do not represent the entirety of what a culture is. Leaders who take a narrow view of what culture comprises, are missing out on a broader toolkit available to them to change the trajectory of their companies.

Anthropologists who study culture look much more expansively at how a group of people live their lives. Kinship systems, storytelling and oral tradition, art, political systems, rituals, religion, economic systems, technology…

Basically, culture is how you live. It includes everything. Yes, that too. In the context of an organization, I believe it is useful to look at 15 elements that comprise culture:

1. Process and policy: How work gets done. Officially and unofficially. For example, the product development process or the policy on what can be expensed.
2. Rituals: Symbolic acts that reinforce behavior and bond people to a community. For example, starting every meeting with a story.
3. Physical space: What your offices look like and are setup to enable (and your retail locations if you have them). For example, does your space encourage collaboration with group workspaces or does it encourage solitary work with lots of cubes and offices?
4. Org structure: Where you draw the boundaries between people, and what that signifies. For example, do you group people by region? By function? By customer they serve?
5. Performance management: How you track and communicate about individual performance. For example, an unguided annual conversation versus a structured process supported by a mobile application.
6. Employee selection: Who (and how) you hire and promote. For example, choosing people based on their skills, on their values…
7. Metrics & analytics: What you measure, how you measure it, how you communicate and disseminate it. For example, a simple primary metric like NPS or a complex system with many financial, strategic, operational metrics.
8. Leader behavior: How managers and leaders show up, the behavior they model. For example: Are managers seen as living the company values or do people see their manager flagrantly violate them?
9. Rewards & recognition: What and how you acknowledge performance. For example, saying ‘thank you’, bonuses, public recognition, private recognition, individual rewards versus team rewards…
10. Communications: What you communicate about, tone and style, frequency, media you use, who communication comes from… For example, town halls, intranets, group chat applications…Formal vs. informal…
11. Job design: How you divide up the work and assign it to people, and what is included in any individual’s assignment. For example: do you focus jobs tightly based on company strategy or do you explicitly leave space for autonomy and exploration?
12. Sense of purpose: The perception people have of the meaningfulness of their work. For example: clarifying for everyone what the company’s mission is and helping them see how their individual work contributes.
13. Life conditions: What’s going on for people in their lives outside of work. For example: are they sick or healthy? Do they have a happy or unhappy family life?… (Note: While this may not be technically part of your culture, people bring this with them to the office and it affects how they show up and their impact on others. And while it is certainly out of your control, you can influence it through the benefits you offer.)
14. Symbols: The visual representations the company holds out as important. For example: photos of leaders in the lobby, logos or typefaces that are used consistently to convey what the brand stands for…
15. Training & tools: How you prepare people and what you give them to do their jobs. For example: a robust internal training program, credits for external courses, a modern computer with the latest software vs. an old one with Microsoft Office 1886.

Just like with cultures in the real world, cultures in the business world are comprised of many elements and represent a rich tapestry that shapes the experience of people living in that culture. (Because the business world is actually part of the real human world. Crazy huh?) So make sure you look at the entire system as your canvas.

Myth #2: Companies have good or bad cultures

Simply put, no.

There is no such thing as a good culture and there is no such thing as a bad culture. Cultures are basically tools that shape outcomes. Meaning, you want to achieve something (a goal or objective) and culture can make that easier or harder.

Whether your ambition is to achieve a financial result, or realize a strategy or higher purpose, culture shapes the experience and, therefore, the behavior of the people in your organization. And their behavior will either move you closer to or further from your goal. Culture can be effective or ineffective, productive or counter-productive. But it cannot be “good” or “bad”.

There’s one important implication of this: It makes no sense to look at what another organization is doing, decide that they have a “good” culture, and then copy what they’re doing. That organization may have an entirely different ambition or purpose. Not to mention that their people may be totally different and, therefore, respond to the same stimulus with a completely different response.

Moral of the story: Culture should match your purpose and be appropriate for your people.

As always, follow Rule No. 1: Be Yourself.