The 5 Rules of Culture

Culture is hard-won and easily lost.

It can take years to build, and one misstep can undermine everything you create.

Culture is both something you have and something you do.

It’s the experience of being part of a group or team, and it’s also the way things play out on a daily basis.

Culture reflects the lowest common denominator.

Despite asking your leaders to shape and create the culture, it will always default to what you tolerate from the most difficult team member.

Culture is never finished.

Too many leaders put values on a wall, talk about it once or twice, and call it a day. If you want your culture to be a competitive advantage, you must build it daily.

Design or default.

You intentionally build your culture around values, standards, norms, and principles, or your culture defaults to how the team’s social dynamics would naturally play out.