Fur coat and nae knickers
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
In our industry that breakfast quote’s like a Beyonce-level megahit.
Attributed to management guru Peter Drucker, the quote effectively says that business strategy is doomed to fail unless company culture can accept and encourage it.
And sweet Cowboy Carter that’s as true today as it ever was …
Is this culture?
First nostalgia. Circa 2010 the push was on to build, emphasise and publicise company culture. Some businesses went a bit mad.
Part of it was The Social Network effect: the Facebook biopic depicted an unpretty workplace world of energy drinks and atomic wedgies that exactly fit the company’s vibe, ethos and purpose.
Poetic Hollywood license, sure, but true in broad brushstrokes. Kid-coders shared a common goal to change the world, and a culture of frattishness, democracy, meritocracy and transparency was the perfect framework to do just that.
Remember this was already social media’s growth spurt hence firms were freely able to pump out culture PR. Playing for fans, followers and fresh talent, they showered us with diverse and inclusive shots of foosball tourneys and tales Beer Pong Friday.
But it’s plain today as it was back then – culture is too often just a photo op. Just a press release. Just a handout. Too often the five core values embossed on company walls bear not a kirdy of resemblance to the diktat which actually defines a business and its people and its future.
Too often, to coin our favourite Scottishism, it’s fur coat and nae knickers.
80% commitment ain’t enough
Transparent. Inclusive. Progressive. Innovative. Dynamic.
Give or take the above values are listed on every business About Us page ever. The branding gurus who distil ‘em and write ‘em have it made. Copy, paste, to the pub …
Anyway. As aspirations and values these five are all very worthy. When forensically and painstakingly embedded through a business, almost any set of values working in concert can effectively comprise this thing called culture.
Okay. But let’s grab the first of the five and run a thought experiment. D’you reckon most businesses want to be 100% transparent, or d’you think they’d rather just look 100% transparent?
Exactly. Too many firms settle for as much of a value as looks good, yet it is ultimately compromiseable. Bosses maintain a cultural bufferzone (circa 80%, say) should they ever need an out. Should they ever need to conceal, cover up, gloss over, pull rank, swerve, weave, deflect, dodge or deny.
And this is the crux of a major problem. Great culture is DNA. It’s fundamental.
Culture is a way of life, not an abstract idea, and as such we need leaders to embody, embed and protect it. It’s a relentless undertaking to weave an essence through every system, person, function and facet of business. It takes courage and commitment with rigorous checks and balances.
So the price is high but the juice is always worth the squeeze. Forbes reckons exemplary business culture is worth a fourfold increase in revenue.
The values chain
No value lives in its own air just as no team, operating model or company structure lives in its own air. A thriving company is singular entities working in concert just as a thriving culture is singular values working in concert.
When singular workers are divorced from business objectives, power structures and one another then quite frankly it’s cultural kryptonite. When employees can only see through the narrow lens of self-interest then the battle will rage for budgets, attention, promotions and territory. Cue disillusionment, resentment, turf wars, obstruction and conflict …
Today’s businesses can afford precisely none of that. Reality is that business needs to be more cohesive, not less, to run bigger, faster, smarter, stronger. Getting there demands dynamic, high-performing cultures which embrace diverse perspectives and nurture worker freedoms.
A major wrinkle in the mix is that one in four workers globally are Gen Zs. In a handful of years this’ll increase to one in three. Autonomy, self-direction, transparency – Gen Z’s workplace expectations are a matter of public record yet too many leaders seem determined to swim against the stream.
Rigid hierarchies, inflexibility, walls, silos – firms where leaders march the halls espousing old-fashioned subservience can kiss Gen Z talent goodbye, Beer Pong Friday or no.
Culture is an action
Culture is action and it’s tough. It’s toil. Glossy photos and witty captions are easy but business culture is that which happens away from the cameras in every deep, dark corner of business.
The best way to gauge how well a business is meeting its own cultural aspirations is to simply poll the rank-and-file. Does the carpet match the curtains? Spoiler alert the answer’s rarely …
When change consultants begin to probe a firm’s cultural disconnects, the leader’s response often says all we need to know.
Should bosses lapse into excuses, deflection, justifications and blame then Houston, we have a problem. Should they own the gaps and start testing for culture leaks then we’re in a much more positive spot.
Progressive firms know that culture is key in securing and retaining top talent and with the best people on board the odds of survival just improved.
A good strategy could save a business. But the business that’s not culturally primed to facilitate that strategy … well, it’s breakfast time.
