Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Organizational Culture”
Last week I walked into yet another company that had a culture gap. This is a phenomenon I have experienced many times in the consulting world. What is a culture gap? It’s the difference between how leaders believe work gets done in their company and how employees really get that work done. While I’m very familiar with culture gaps, only …
I learned a lot in while I was in prison – working as a psychologist, that is. I saw there that behavior – even in its extremes – can be influenced by context or culture. And that’s what I still speak and write about today. Back then, there was a lot of talk about the “dark triad” of personality traits, …
What species gets cancer more often: elephants or humans? Now you might think that since elephants are so much bigger than humans — and have so many more cells that could be affected by cancer — that they suffer from the disease more than we do. Actually, though, elephants don’t get cancer. Well, they do occasionally. But not nearly as often …
To measure the state of your company culture, you can evaluate it using various metrics. Surveys, statistics and feedback will all give you valuable information. But there’s also a quicker way to get a gut check on what’s really happening in your culture. Sometimes we keep our heads so buried in our work that we miss what’s going on all …
Turnover in business is like leaving your doors and windows open on a cold winter day. You can still heat your house, but it will cost you. And you can save a boatload on your heating expenses if you just close your doors and windows. The U.S. Department of Labor cites the top two reasons that businesses fail: They run …
Last week, I was reminded of an article that was published in Harvard Business Review last year, “The Busier You Are, the More You Need Quiet Time.” In it, the authors go into how quiet time benefits everything from learning and memory to creativity, to increasing employee morale and productivity. Wonderful! But the authors fall short. At the end of …
In last week’s blog, we discussed the high cost of incivility in a workplace culture. This week, I’d like to discuss some ways you can create a more civil culture. Set a Destination An ancient Chinese proverb states, “If we don’t decide where we’re going, we’re bound to end up where we’re headed.” Creating a culture of civility requires leaders …
Recently I had the honor of working with The Executive Committee, Canada, better known as TEC Canada, during its “Canada Day” in San Diego. I gave a two-hour keynote presentation on culture as part of a full-day conference, which extended into the evening with a dinner gala and awards ceremony. While I speak at this type of event dozens of …
Think about the last time you walked on a beach. It was probably a bright, beautiful day. You could feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Everything was picture perfect. Lovely … Enjoy the memory. Now think about the actual physical experience of walking on that beach. You might remember that every time you placed your foot down, …
As promised in my last blog post, this week we discuss how Newton’s second law of motion can be applied to changing workplace culture. The second law is more complex, but if you stick with me, I promise to use it to explain another big and painful challenge when creating change in workplace culture: resistance. Here’s Newton’s second law: F=ma. The vector sum …
