The 3 foundations of company culture
Every organisation builds a culture of its own through its myths, its heroes and its rituals, shaped by values and traditions over time. Understanding those cultural dimensions gives you a better grip on the internal dynamics of any organisation and on where it sits in the wider landscape of company cultures around the world.
Organisations with a culture of collaboration and trust pivoted to remote work with ease and turned the challenges into openings. The ones rooted in rigid ways of working sent their people into a maze of uncertainty that felt like a professional purgatory with no exit.
A crisis on that scale offers a blank canvas on which organisations can redraw their culture. It is time to build a culture that does more than survive, one that does well in adversity and turns each obstacle into a springboard towards innovation and growth.
These days, to size up a client’s environment quickly, I ask them about their company culture and focus on its three fundamental pillars:
- The founding myths are the origin stories, the obstacles met, the challenges taken on, the reversals of fortune and the unusual moves that hold the original culture of the organisation. These myths show how well an organisation moves through ambiguity and adapts. They also give your people a reason to be proud of working there. It is the billion-dollar tweet that got Ryan Graves hired at Uber. It is the garage that served as Google’s first office, whose owner went on to become a chief executive. It is the door that served as a desk for Amazon’s first employees.
- The rituals are the moments your people share that make your organisation unlike any other. Those traditions tell the human adventure under way better than any story could: the workations at Uber, the Gandhi Walk at the late Twitter, the two-by-two lunches at Club Med. They strengthen the sense of belonging and the collective identity. They also reveal how an organisation values the individual against the group, and how it reinforces its own values.
- The heroes are the pioneers who started the organisation or who saved it from a crisis. Édouard, the grocer from Landerneau. The two Steves, the hippie and the geek from Los Altos. The Collison brothers, founders of Stripe, who spent eight months in Buenos Aires writing their application. Musk, the eccentric visionary with a passion for electric cars and space. These heroes show how authority, vision and leadership are understood inside the organisation. In some cultures a leader is a visionary guide, and in others a leader is an equal member of the team.
The foundations of company culture also play a decisive part in long-term strategy. They go well beyond a set of rules or guidelines, acting as the lens through which leaders look at their situation and build their strategies. Understanding those foundations properly lets you develop plans that hold up commercially and sit in line with the values of the organisation.
Putting the foundations of company culture to work
Company culture works something like the skeleton your organisation rests on. It is the rigid frame that carries the values, beliefs and principles that have driven the organisation since its early days. These foundations describe what the organisation does, and above all they reveal why and how it does it.
In periods of uncertainty, company culture acts as a compass. It provides direction and consistency, which helps your people stay aligned with the mission and the objectives of the organisation. That makes it a key factor in holding things together, even in the rough water of change.
To get a first understanding of your DNA
The foundations of company culture act as a mirror reflecting the DNA of your organisation. They go well past a description of the products or services on offer.
They embody the values, the beliefs and the principles that have guided the organisation since its beginning. These foundations offer a valuable view of what drives the organisation’s decisions and of what is valued inside the working community.
To hold consistency through change
In a commercial environment that keeps shifting, the foundations of company culture serve as a compass that does not waver. They offer the consistency and the direction that help your people work their way through challenges and uncertainty. That cultural consistency keeps the organisation aligned with its mission and its objectives, even during periods of change or crisis.
To pass the values on
When it comes to bringing new recruits on board, a company culture that is well defined and well communicated makes their transition far easier. It lets new arrivals align quickly with the objectives and the values of the organisation, which is what keeps those core values alive over time.
The foundations of company culture play a decisive part in onboarding new recruits. A company culture that is clearly defined and well communicated makes for a smoother transition for new people, helping them align quickly with the objectives and the values of the organisation. That keeps the core values of the organisation intact and alive, even as it grows and welcomes new members.
To guide long-term strategy
The foundations of company culture amount to more than a set of rules or guidelines. They are the lens through which leaders can build long-term strategy. Understanding those foundations deeply lets you create plans that hold up commercially and sit in full harmony with the values and beliefs that define the organisation.
To encourage innovation and adaptability
The foundations of company culture are not set in stone. They are built to evolve and adapt to new market realities. A solid company culture encourages innovation by creating an environment where your people feel free to take calculated risks and explore new ideas. That cultural flexibility is what keeps the organisation competitive and relevant in a commercial landscape that keeps changing.