Culture is defined as the beliefs, behavioral rules, traditions and rituals that bind us together. But where do beliefs come from? And how do they become an accepted part of our culture? Beliefs are a set of thoughts, about someone or something, that hang together. For example, each of us has beliefs about how the world operates (or how it …
It’s our culture. We must decide. Which lives matter? Do Black Lives Matter or do All Lives Matter? The answer may not be as obvious as you think. Since the inception of the Black Lives Matter movement, some have countered with the statement “All Lives Matter.” In their minds, “All Lives Matter” is more inclusive. And many would argue that …
For the past two weeks, I have been asked a couple of questions repeatedly: “What the heck is going on with all of these protests and looting?” “Do you think this has anything to do with our culture?” The short answer to both questions is, yes, these events have everything to do with our culture. Video Shows Us Police Culture …
One of the most frequent questions I’ve been getting over the past month is, “What is this all going to look like when it’s over?” The truth is that the coronavirus pandemic is a very dynamic crisis. We learn new things every week. Two weeks ago we found out about a new symptom: Covid toes. Last week, we learned about …
As you can imagine, I’ve spent the last month helping clients adapt to a dynamic, ever-changing crisis that was brought to us courtesy of the Novel Coronavirus, Sars-Cov2. It’s now time to start looking at the trends that will help us all continue to adapt as we settle into this ‘new normal.’ As with any crisis or critical, societal event, …
In the past month, the world has been turned on its head. What many saw as another problem “over there” has become a global pandemic. Every company and every industry has been affected. While companies in some fields — such as virtual meetings, social media and door-to-door delivery — have grown and expanded, most other companies and sectors have been …
It has recently been suggested to me that I speak about organizations after they have succeeded or failed based on their culture, rather than during some cultural transformation that is occurring. This is true for two reasons: Cultural examples of success or failure tend to be clearer after the fact. If culture is a vehicle to success or failure (and …
Brand new year. Brand new decade. This is the time of year when organizations, and the people in them, create strategic plans and make resolutions. Both fail more often than not. Why is that? While it is admirable and even desirable to look ahead to try to improve our organizations (and ourselves), our efforts often fail for a single reason: …
How should you handle an employee who is chronically negative about your company? It is unfortunate, but this question and others like it arise with some frequency in my work. Just last week, I was asked the above question by a participant in Culture Catalyst, an eight-week program I offer to leadership teams. There are several steps that might lead …
I was recently asked to serve as a consultant for a company wanting to build a stronger culture. When I began to learn about the company’s vision, values and mission statements, I ran into something that was uncommon. Their values included the statement, “We promote, reward and compensate based on merit, which we see as the result of ability plus …
