Entrepreneurs: Culture is Your Sustainable Edge
by Miki SaxonAs an article on in Forbes points out, your culture is the only part of a company that can’t be duplicated and is, therefore, your biggest and most sustainable asset—if you take the time and invest the energy to make it more than great-sounding words.
While the article doesn’t break new ground it did offer up a great image bite that may resonate with you.
All music is made from the same 12 notes. All culture is made from the same five components: behaviors, relationships, attitudes, values and environment. It’s the way those notes or components are put together that makes things sing.
It points out that the reason that culture can’t be duplicated is context, meaning that two people arranging the same components will have a different result.
That’s because context = MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and there is not such thing as two people with the same MAP.
Even identical twins won’t have identical MAP because MAP is the result of perception, not just experience.
The problem is building a culture that sings, whether concerto, R&B, pop or rap, takes effort, entrepreneurs are always in a time crunch and culture gets pushed to the back burner.
When that happens just remember that when reality requires you to pivot, when success requires you to staff up quickly, when the bugs surface or your competition is killing you the strength to overcome will be found in your culture—or not.
Flickr image credit: The-Lane-Team
