Ducks in a Row: Culture Needs Teeth
by Miki Saxon
It’s pretty well accepted these days that culture eats strategy in terms of moving a company forward.
It’s also a given that you need to take time to consciously build your culture, whether for company, group or team, since culture will happen regardless.
However, your cultural structure won’t stand long without some very pragmatic infrastructure.
In other words, culture needs to have teeth.
If you’re counting on an honor system where nothing happens to those who violate the culture then, over time, it will erode.
Not because you hire “bad” people, but because you hire humans and humans often tend to do what is convenient, instead of what they should do.
They also tend to follow a “monkey see/monkey do” pattern, so if a new hire sees an old hand cut a tiny corner here and skirt a little something there and nothing happens, then expect her to think it’s OK.
Teeth aren’t about bureaucracy they’re about the obvious repercussions that happen when the culture is violated.
They aren’t sneaky or hidden; they don’t demean or embarrass.
Above all, teeth don’t bite selectively; they apply equally to everybody—which is why they work.
Their purpose is to strengthen your culture, not undermine it — which is what happens the moment someone becomes exempt.
Flickr image credit: Claudio Gennari
