How Culture Is Defined

Culture at the workplace has not just become a buzzword of late, but even more what seems like an immovable object that just “is what it is.”

I refuse to live that way. Life is too short to work at a place that drains every aspect of your being from you 5-6 days a week. So why not make the place you’re at the type of place you’ve always wanted to work at?

Recently, in a staff meeting, I challenged our team to make a list together of all the characteristics of our team when we are operating at our best. Then, by comparison, we made a list of all the attributes of the team when we are NOT at our best.

Obviously, any sane person would agree that the first list is the place they’d most like to work at, but the question still lingers, “How do we get there all the time?”.

Culture is defined by what you allow to be OK.

Culture doesn’t just happen by chance. It is made by what we allow, ignore, celebrate, reward, and discipline. Too many people are afraid to confront the actions on the wrong list, and when those go unchecked, that’s the culture we end up with.

If we don’t celebrate publicly and consistently good cultural behavior, we will never have the culture we desire.

So, what culture are you allowing to be OK in your environment today? The change begins and ends with each of us.