How culture drives strategy

All my career, I've observed culture driving strategy, and now someone has EXPLAINED!

Harvard Business Review: Build a Corporate Culture that Works, 2024-July/August by Erin Meyer

Ever since Peter Drucker famously declared that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” there has been a widespread understanding that managing corporate culture is key to business success. Yet few companies articulate their corporate culture in such a way that the words become an organizational reality that guides employee behavior. Which raises the question: If culture eats strategy for breakfast, how should you be cooking it?

I have been studying culture in organizations in my roles as a professor and as an adviser to businesses for the past 20 years. I have looked at companies that have struggled to build cultures that shape the behavior of their employees—and at a few that seem to have cracked the code. In this article I draw on that experience to offer six simple guidelines to help managers who are confronting the challenges of culture building.

Made me laugh, and made me think, too!

I have to share this quote which struck me as SO funny and SO insightful. We "know" things based on our experience. And yet, our experience is not universal. The best way to make it more universal is to share it. Think about it! How many times have you swallowed your opinion when you ought to have shared it?

NY Times: The internet takes some time off, 2023-Sep-1, by Madison Malone Kircher

There is a pet theory I’ve long held about the internet. I will disclose upfront that it has absolutely zero scientific merit. The only peer review it has received is me telling my actual peers about it. You are now all my friends.

 

Better Storytelling with 3 Reveals, from Ann Handley

I'm still on the road to become a good storyteller, and Ann Handley recently offered a great tip. (A-ha: better way to connect with the reader.)

Total Annarchy newsletter: Yes, You Did See Me on MasterChef, 2023-Jun-4 by Ann Handley

Every story should reveal three truths. I call this the 3 Reveals (because I'm not great at titles).

THE 3 REVEALS

1. Reveal the writer to the reader: Help the reader understand the writer.
2. Reveal the reader to the reader: Help the reader see themselves.
3. Reveal an idea: Help deliver an a-ha moment.

Any story is a kind of partnership between the writer and the reader.

When one of the truths isn't present—a story falls flat. Feels inauthentic. Is boring.

 

A balance between all 3 Reveals is key. Over-indexing on one can easily throw the whole experience out of whack, like a wobbly wheel on a shopping cart that keeps listing too much to the right. You fight it—and the whole thing becomes annoying.

Values Vs. Beliefs

Values weigh more heavily than beliefs with respect to our actions. (Hint: they have $value.) We are willing to pay the price to reach something we value.

Digital Tonto: Values Always Cost You Something, 2023-May-21 by Greg Satell

...values are often confused with beliefs. When you’re sitting around a conference table, it’s easy to build a consensus about broad virtues such as excellence, integrity and customer service. True values, on the other hand, are idiosyncratic. They represent choices that are directly related to a particular mission.

Make no mistake. Real values always cost you something. They are what guides you when you need to make hard calls instead of taking the easy path. They are what makes the difference between looking back with pride or regret. Perhaps most importantly, they are what allows others to trust you.

Without genuine commitment [to] values there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no shared purpose.

Empathy can be a Weapon as well as a Comfort

Empathy can be as simple as a speaking glance that says "I heard you." Or it can begin by asking someone Why do you feel that way?, then listening without making them feel judged. We usually use empathy to acquire allies, but it's equally important to understand the feelings of our competitors and enemies. If someone is trying to stop you, slow down and consider what they're feeling. Better yet, ask them.

Digital Tonto: How Empathy Can Be Your Secret Weapon, 2023-Apr-2 by Greg Satell

One thing I learned over many years living in foreign cultures is that it’s important to understand how people around you think, especially if you don’t agree with them and, as is sometimes the case, find their point of view morally reprehensible. In fact, learning more about how others think can make you a more effective leader, negotiator and manager.

Empathy is not absolution. You can internalize the ideas of others and still vehemently disagree. There is a reason that Special Forces are trained to understand the cultures in which they will operate and it isn’t because it makes them nicer people. It’s because it makes them more lethal operators.

It is only through empathy that we can understand motivations—for good or ill—and design effective strategies to build shared purpose or, if need be, design a dilemma for an opponent. To operate in an often difficult world, you need to understand your environment. That’s why building empathy skills can be like a secret weapon.

Blogging to Inspire

The Ahrefs blog recently inspired me with an article about 'reasons to use content marketing.' They made the insightful comment that content marketing cannot directly drive action. In addition to educating and entertaining, they recommended inspiring the reader. I've never thought about, and now I think maybe that's what I always should have been doing!

Ahrefs: Content Marketing Goals: How Many & Which Ones, 2023-Feb-27 by Mateusz Makosiewicz

Inspiration 

This is content that gives people “the spark” to act and achieve their goals. 

Inspiration is different from education in a way that it doesn’t serve complete solutions. It acts on imagination and emotion to show the possible or states an important question. Plus, it’s typically more influential than educational content. 

Inspiration works for businesses because it: 

• Allows you to reach people before they experience a problem your product solves and when they’re not looking to solve a problem. This allows you to beat the competition to the punch.
• Makes an emotional connection with your audience through excitement and enthusiasm. Emotions make brands unforgettable. 
• Lets inspirational brands really stand out. 
• Has the power to influence. 
• May make people want to come back spontaneously. And that’s important because then the content makes its way to the reader without any competition. 

Contributing as a Team Leader

The primary value of team leaders to an organization is in information gathering and disbursement. Managing your team members is actually about making sure they know what's important, and that information has to be gathered from outside the team because it's constantly changing. Information about what the team is facing and accomplishing needs to be pushed up and throughout the organization. 

Diamond Pencils: As a manager, your team is your peers (not your reports), 2023-Feb-19 by Benyamin Elias

Ok let’s TL;DR this whole thing:

Work with your peers at least as much as you work with your direct reports. This is a simple insight that surprises new managers (it surprised me, although luckily before I made the mistake). Focusing too much time on direct reports is what leads to under-performance and career risk; spending time with your peers leads to growth, results, and getting what you want.