As most readers of this blog know, we teach organizations how to be more systematic and intentional about creating their cultures. The foundation of that process is articulating and practicing the behaviors (we call them Fundamentals), which you most want to see. In this post, and in some of my future ones, I’ll take one …
I was eating breakfast one day last week while working my way through the latest issue of Sports Illustrated and I came across an article about the St. Louis Cardinals. It seems the Cardinals are about to make their 5th consecutive postseason appearance (their 12th in the last 16 years), and are sporting the best …
Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a big advocate for defining our culture in terms of the behaviors we want to see, rather than simply articulating the values we believe in. Behaviors are clearer and more actionable, and they’re easier to teach, coach, and provide feedback on. There are two primary methods for …
Is working on your culture just about making your company a nice place to work, or is it really a financial issue? Can your culture actually make you money? You bet it can! Let’s take a closer look at how and why this is true. Here’s a simple way to think of it: If you …
I’m often asked about where and when I first got the idea for the Fundamentals and the system of creating weekly rituals to reinforce them. There’s a lot to be learned from that story, which goes back to 2002, so I thought I’d briefly share it with you here. In my never-ending search for ways …
What can you learn from Ritz-Carlton\’s culture? Read More »
When I’m with groups of CEOs, I’ll often ask them why they think culture is important. It doesn’t take long for them to rattle off all the ways in which culture affects their people’s performance. They’ll tell me that the culture influences how their employees deal with customers, the quality of their work, the degree …
One of the biggest mistakes I often see companies make as they try to define the culture they want to create is the tendency to have too much collaboration. Why do I call that a mistake? Let’s take a closer look. At its most basic level, too much collaboration can paralyze a group and make …
If you’ve read any of my previous writing about creating and driving culture intentionally, you know that I place a strong emphasis on the importance of defining behaviors, much more so than values. Behaviors are clear and specific, and so they’re easier to explain, teach, guide, and give feedback on. In this blog, I’ll provide …
Here’s a question I often hear when I speak to CEOs about defining the culture they want to create: “Is it better to figure it all out and introduce it to our staff as a completed document, or is it better to introduce what we can think of now and then let it evolve over …
There’s been a lot written lately, and for good reason, about the impact of a new generation of employees and how their entry into the workforce is beginning to reshape how we think about the employer-employee relationship as well as our relationship to work itself. In this blog, I’ll explore how this impacts our culture, …
