“Organizational Culture is not something you have, is something you make” – Daniel Coyle.

Over past month we’ve explored some aspects of what it means to be leaders, and how they create and shape the corporate culture.

As we’ve seen last week people don’t just simply leave jobs, they leave bad bosses.

And let’s take that statement one step further: People not only leave bad bosses, they leave bad Organizational Cultures.

Commonly referred to as Corporate Culture.

So, this week let’s talk about Organizational Culture, and what that means.

Several celebrated experts defined the topic with different approaches and depth; from the “guru” Edgar Schein to John Kotter or Peter Drucker. 

As a result of that extensive intellectual exercise, today we can basically understand Organizational Culture as:

A set of shared basic conventions, values and practices – both declared and implicitly subjacent (unconscious) – that determines how people take decisions, work and interact in an organization. 

It also determines what behaviors and outcomes are valued and desirable in that organization.

In general we can find ourselves working in two main types of OC’s:

1.  Strong culture, but not adaptive.

It may have internal coherence, but at the same time it is rigid to change and not adaptive.

Throughout my career over three decades, I’ve observed many times that the inception of the next company’s failure is right there in the same origins of that company’s success. 

Because everything that worked and brought the company to success, becomes the 10 commandments that cannot be challenged. No one can dare to propose such sacrilege.

2.   Strong Adaptive Culture.

Flexible, market and consumers centric, with leadership committed to company’s vision and with a never-stop-learning, never-stop-trying, attitude.

Cultures must evolve to keep themselves aligned with evolving environments, especially with what in strategic foresight exercises is called Fortress Scenarios. 

Otherwise, those cultures become a roadblock to growth and success. 

Don’t get me wrong, having a culture that has an adaptive DNA, doesn’t mean giving up on the core vision and mission of the company.

An iconic leader of a certain entertainment company with mouse ears, once told me: “You can change, adapt or adjust strategy and tactics, BUT YOU NEVER GIVE UP ON  THE VISION.”

That statement, is an example of a foundational concept that creates an adaptive but solid company culture, in one clear sentence.

Kotter & Heskett, conducted research in over 200 corporations for the foundational book “Corporate Culture and Performance" (1992); and the unavoidable conclusion was that the ones with a strong adaptive culture drastically overcame their competitors in operating income, efficient employment and stock value.

All the above translates as an inspirational place to work and to attract the best talent, continuous and substantial growth and value, strong ROI for their shareholders. 

A thriving and efficient Organization.

Organizational Culture is not only an intangible, symbolic or decorative factor; it’s a key determinant in the business growth in the long run.

If we look at the Interbrand Best Global Brands list, the most successful global companies that lasted over decades; 65% of them reached 40 years, only 25% of them reached 80 years, and only 15% of them reached 100 years or more.

And a key common factor among all of them is their Strong but Adaptive Organizational Cultures.

The best culture they have, the longer they transcend and they’re part of consumers lives around the world.

“Culture eats strategy for Breakfast” - Peter Drucker.

No Strategy succeeds if Organizational Culture doesn't back it up.

The Organizational Culture is so critical, so determining, that we can have the best business strategy in the world, but if it’s not aligned with the culture, and vice versa, we’ll fail; miserably.

Throughout decades of working with organizations, I’ve seen one truth repeat itself: strategy without cultural alignment fails — no matter how brilliant the plan.

So, how is a successful corporate culture built?

CEO’s and their leadership teams must have Human Resources as a strategic partner in designing a thoughtful and holistic engineering, to build a successful culture that also transcends in time.

What I mean by Holistic?

You need to attract and recruit exceptional talent, build an exceptional culture with them. Where they can create, experiment, investigate, try, fail, learn, iterate and succeed. 

And providing them with the best tools to achieve all that.

When we say tools, we need to be holistic about it too, meaning tech tools, smart Capex investment, and intellectual & emotional training. 

A culture that allows to create, experiment, investigate, try and fail; is a culture that awards the thinkers and the doers, the connecters, the facilitators, the collaborators.

Never, ever, punishes them.

A culture of sharing information, exchanging talent and experiences, makes teams appreciating and respecting each other’s knowledge, actively seeking to collaborate.

All that, builds trust and confidence, and brings all that exponential strength together, to crystallize the vision and the mission of that organization.

The culture in an organization is always present, from the design of a position, the thoughtful design of a recruitment process, through the subsequent onboarding of the talent, to the fostering of internal leadership, as a transmitter of culture, throughout generations.

As Peter Capelli and Ana Tavis concluded in their article “Why We Love to Hate HR... and What HR Can Do About It”:

Leaders and HR don’t need more power, they need more purpose.

If you're building, scaling, or redesigning an organization, consider this: culture is not an accessory — it’s a structural pillar of business success.

And if you’re working in an organization where something doesn’t quite click with your values or your talent, don’t ignore that feeling. 

Culture is not just what surrounds you — it shapes you.

The best talent deserves the best environment to grow.

Culture is the invisible architecture of tangible long-term success. If you're serious about building it with intention, I'm here to help you do it right.

Let’s be GREAT and GOOD!