CULTURE
Culture
I have a simple definition of culture: values in action.
Or, as I have come to describe it more recently, values in motion.
A value on a wall is an aspiration. Culture is the evidence that the value is actually happening.
If a firm says it values people first, there should be evidence. If it values philanthropy, there should be time and resources devoted to service. If it values flexibility, people should be able to use flexibility without career consequences. If it values development, leaders should spend meaningful time developing people.
The gap between what a firm says and what people experience is where culture problems begin.
One of my former firms used the familiar value “people first,” but there were practices behind it. Team members could effectively create an eleven-month year by buying additional time away from work. The value had motion.
Culture is not the words you chose at a retreat. It is what gets rewarded, tolerated, repeated, funded, scheduled, promoted, and modeled by leaders.
There should be evidence.
Ask yourself: if nobody could see the values printed on your website or wall, what would they conclude your values are by watching the firm operate?
That answer is your culture.
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