The Criticality of Culture

Having spent time on an extended road trip the last couple months, I had the ability to reflect on a number of things, both personal and professional.  In the professional sense: the journey I’ve been on across nearly thirty-two years and seven employers, what has worked, where I’ve had challenges, what I’ve learned, and, looking forward, what I’d like to learn and to be part of my next opportunity on the road ahead.  A critical element in that experience certainly relates to culture and the ability to both be valued and make a difference as part of an organization. 

To that end, while the backlog of topics for this blog is quite expansive already, I thought that it would be worth sharing some thoughts on culture as a critical component in setting the stage for excellence in an organization.

The remainder of this article will focus on culture at an overall level as well as a set of core values that I believe are a good starting point for what healthy workplace environment should include… As with all things on my blog, this is my point of view and I’m definitely interested in other ways of thinking about this, values that are important that I may have overlooked, or questions on what is presented… the insight gained through the dialogue, especially where culture is concerned, can be extremely valuable.

 

Looking Beyond the Language

Culture in Action

Action, Not Words. 

This simple phrase pretty well sums up how I feel about culture at an overall level.  Culture is not about what you write down or say publicly, culture is about how you behave and what you value when it matters or when no one is looking.  The latter point is akin to the question of whether you would run a red light in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.  Some people definitely would… and it’s the same way with culture.

Having been employed by seven organizations and worked with many clients who have had cultures of their own, I’ve seen many variations of this over the years.  From places where the culture is relegated to a tagline printed across a set of internal collateral, to sets of values or principles that are a combination of words or phrases and a contextual explanation of what they are meant to represent in practice.  I’ve seen them referenced rarely and frequently, depending on the organization.  I’ve also seen where what is said publicly is completely different than what happens privately through words, actions, or both.  And, in one case, I’ve seen where there was a wonderful alignment of what was said to what was put into practice and reinforced across the organization…

The last example was in my early days at Sapient and its core values in the late 90s.  While I feel strongly about not mentioning any specific companies in the course of my writing, this is a case where there was such a concerted effort to live into the culture that it seems appropriate to acknowledge the organizational accomplishment.  Arguably, as the company grew and went through a period of acquisitions, evolving and adapting that culture became a challenge, but it was something that went far beyond words on a page to something we, as employees, aspired to, and that’s definitely a good thing.  The fact that I remember the original and (eventually) modified core values over twenty years since I left the organization says something about the level to which we internalized them at the time.  I also remember how the phrase “In the spirit of Openness…” (one of our core values) as the opening to a sentence meant that you were about to get some direct, unfiltered feedback about something you needed to do differently, because it didn’t align to the culture or expectations of the organization as a whole.  It was brutal feedback at times, but it applied equally to everyone, from the co-CEOs to the developers, and something about that made it feel more acceptable and genuine, however it may have been delivered in the moment.  I also remember a client remarking to us in a sales meeting that, when they asked us about our culture, everyone in the team nearly jumped out of their chair or had a story to tell.  It was something we fundamentally believed in, and that energy and excitement was palpable.  It also translated into the experience we created for our clients (as part of “Client-Focused Delivery”) as well as a non-existent attrition rate we used to talk about in Chicago because we didn’t lose a single employee for the first eighteen months I was in the office which, in consulting, is nearly unheard of.

So, with that as the benchmark on the positive side, suffice is to say that I’ve seen other organizations show up differently, and with varying levels of impact on morale, performance, attrition, and other things that matter from a business perspective.  The point is consistency in words and actions, because values become the pillars upon which an organization establishes the foundation for operating performance.  They are the rules of the road and, when they aren’t followed consistently, employee experience and ultimately business performance will suffer.

 

Culture in Applicability

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. (Animal Farm, George Orwell)

In concert with culture being action-oriented within an organization, the concept that it apply equally is also critical to giving it credibility at a broader level, which is why I thought of the Orwell quote in this regard. 

To the degree that there is a different set of rules that apply to “leadership” from the remainder of an organization, it can cause a ripple effect whereby people develop an “us and them” mentality and, by extension, a negative perception and lack of trust in senior leaders, regardless of the messaging they hear in public forums.  That perception can extend to strong performers not wanting to contribute at a stand out level for fear of becoming part of that environment, which clearly can and would hinder overall organizational results over time.  I do believe the standards for behavior and expectations of senior leaders should be higher as a consequence of their increased responsibilities to an organization, but with regard to the subject of this article, that would translate into being more true to the culture as its principal advocates.

 

The Foundation for a Healthy Environment

So, if given a blank sheet of paper, below are the core values I would start with (as part of a leadership discussion) in the interest of trying to establish a healthy and productive workplace.

 

Integrity

Culture has to start with an intention to do the right thing, promote honesty, and discourage passive aggressive behaviors.  This applies to how business matters are handled internally and externally, with high ethical standards that are fair but don’t waiver.  This is probably the most challenging core value to establish consistently in an organization in my experience, which is why I put it first on the list.

 

Respect

This core value is about treating everyone fairly and consistently, regardless of their background and experience, ensuring their voice is heard, and that inclusive diversity is part of the workplace, including its representation in leadership.

 

Transparency

Transparency is critical in establishing an environment of trust, free of unspoken agendas, promoting an environment where employees can seek understanding, ask questions, and engage in dialogue surrounding critical decisions and actions in the interest of advancing the organization overall.  People with nothing to hide, hide nothing… and, notwithstanding situations that require confidentiality for business reasons, my experience of people who are not open with their intentions and actions has generally not been very positive.

 

Collaboration

An environment that promotes respect also should recognize that there is power in collaboration that extends the capabilities of an organization far more than a group of “individual contributors” working in silos ever could (something I discuss in The Power of N).  This also implies a degree of humility within and across an organization, as the idea an individual or team is “better than” others in some form or fashion can create an environment that excludes people or ideas in a way that ultimately hinders growth and evolution.

 

Leadership

This core value can be somewhat of a catchall given its implications are fairly broad.  I will fall back on the Sapient definition of “getting a group of people from where they are to where they need to be” as a characterization, but the overall point is to accept, drive, and encourage innovation, change, and evolution as critical to business success.

 

Impact

Finally, I believe it’s important to focus on value creation, in whatever way that manifests itself.  Results ultimately matter and should be part of how a culture and set of behaviors across an organization are established and evaluated on an ongoing basis.

 

Wrapping Up

I know there are many dimensions to establishing a healthy and thriving culture beyond what I’ve covered here, but minimally I wanted to share some concepts in the interest of stirring discussion on something that is critical to establishing operating agility and performance.

Above anything else, one thing is definitely true: culture can change in a negative direction quickly, particularly with poor and/or inexperienced leadership, but to make culture healthy and thrive to the extent it becomes a sustainable part of an organization takes a lot of time and reinforcement because of the level of behavioral change involved.

Some questions to consider:

• Are the core values in an organization well established and defined in a manner such that they can be applied to people’s work on a daily basis?
• Do senior leaders live by those values at a level equal or greater to that which they expect from the average employee?
• Is the culture strong enough and understood to create value at a level that the average employee would advocate it as a reason to join or work with the organization to a third-party?
• To what extent is “culture” a reason articulated as a reason people stay or exit an organization?

 

I hope the ideas were worth considering.  Thanks for taking the time to read them.  Feedback is welcome as always.

-CJG 10/13/2023