What is culture? 

Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

We can acknowledge that culture is more important than strategy. Instead of spending more investment on strategy, spend more time on building culture. Culture is centered around one thing and one thing alone: people.

But, that still doesn’t explain what culture is…

Simply stated, it’s really hard to define. I have found many definitions that are scholarly and verbose that try to include every static idea in a very fluid and subjective word. Culture can mean different things to different people at different times, but most all readily agree it exists and it is a key component in the success or failure of any organization. 

Culture is the collective shared ideas about life that shape and affect behavior.

Culture really is a climate that directs conduct. So if you want to change the conduct then you have to change the culture. But, if it is so hard to define, then certainly it is hard to explain and express. Culture is not based on a feeling, an event or a position. All of those elements may play a key role or become a critical by-product of culture, but culture will always be created, kept and recreated by people. Culture is all about people: what they believe, how they communicate, and how they conduct themselves. 

Culture is composed of three major, but simple elements: values, symbols, behaviors.

#1 – Values: What you believe speaks the loudest about who you are.

Every organization needs to identify who they are by identifying what is most important to those who are leading the organization. If the leaders do not identify the core values, then someone else in the organization will. If the leaders don’t believe in what they are proclaiming, then no one else will either. Core values must be believable both to the leaders that preach them and the followers that hear them. Core values must be accepted by all of those in the organization or dysfunction will surely follow.

What is so evident is that when a organization does not clearly define “who they are” the organization develops multiple personality disorder. Competing identities will always weaken or destroy any organization.

Values state to everyone in the organization “this is who we are.” And when a member of the organization knows who they are, they also know who they are not. Core Values need to be simple, identifiable and believable.

Most importantly, your values are your convictions. Convictions give consistency to your identity. Many organizations have failed, because they compromised on convictions. Compromising leads to catastrophe. Better to be consistent over a long period of time with short growth, than inconsistent over a short period of time with explosive growth. Consistency produces clarity and sustainability. Many organizations change their core values when they move from private to public, causing a loss of identity.

If you want a stronger culture, clearly identify and articulate your core values.  

#2- Symbols: How you communicate is essential to how you will be perceived and received.

Organizational communication is an element that many organizations overlook or minimize the necessity of the role. Symbols are the formation of the language, brands, logos, and stories that an organization passes throughout its framework. Symbols are powerful. Without them, our thoughts would not become words, our plans would not become realities and our dreams would not be possible.

Symbols in an organization communicate simply and powerfully messages. One often overlooked symbol is the story or narrative. The story is an anecdote that serves to carry culture across generations and emphasize a point. Some of the best teachers in the world are the best storytellers. A great story causes the listener to identify and learn through the telling of the story. Stories are one of the most effective ways to pass ideas of importance to new members and new generations of the organizations. All members of the organization should be able to tell key stories or anecdotes about the organization that reinforce the values of the organization.

If you want a stronger culture, become a better story-teller. 

#3- Behaviors: What you do is the result of what you believe and how effective your communication is.

What you do is important. Why you do it is more important. You can have the best training system in the world, but if there is not a culture that honors and emphasizes training, then the behavior is not reinforced and culture is lost.

If you want to instill a culture of service, then the leaders of the organization must not only talk about serving, but they must also demonstrate that they also serve. If you want a culture of generosity, then the leaders must model generosity. Modeling is one of the most effective behaviors that communicates and reinforces culture. It is not enough just to identify and tell someone what they must do, they also must see it being done. Too many organizations still practice, “Do what I say, not what I do.” Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leaders must be the supreme examples in the organizations, if not they are creating dysfunction by their own example.

The Question

One question I often ask of those developing in the organization is simply this: “Who are you modeling yourself after?” This is an eye-opener for sure. Sometimes, they don’t even know what this means. Sometimes, they are modeling themselves after the wrong people. There should be a healthy lineage of behavior modeling in the organization. I say healthy, because this exists in any organization. If you have a dishonest leader, then trust me the subordinates to that leader are being taught to be dishonest because of the modeling principle that comes through the concept of behavior.

If you want a stronger culture, then focus on practicing behaviors that reinforce your core values. 

People are the key to each of these three culture components. People have values. People see and communicate through symbols. People have behaviors. To create culture you have to construct a healthy lining that begins with your beliefs (values) and extends in how you communicate and the expected conduct that will follow. Without convictions your culture will only be consistent in its inconsistency.

Leaders must identify what they believe, preach it and practice it. If not they have deceived themselves and someone else is creating a culture that is leading the organization.

“Be doers of the word and not hearers only”

James 1:22