Stop pursuing the perfect culture.
Every time people use the terms “bad culture” versus “good culture,” I cringe. This binary approach oversimplifies reality by forcing us to choose between good or bad.
I recently wrote about how culture and strategy should work together (instead of culture eating strategy for breakfast). Culture amplifies strategy: We don’t need one or the other – we need both.
The response on LinkedIn was overwhelming, sparking intense reactions. Many jumped to declare that “bad cultures” kill strategy. Others advocated for culture’s magical power, as if a business could thrive without a proper strategy.
This reminds me of how often we fall into the binary thinking trap:
Why do we try to force companies into one of two boxes?
What exactly do we mean by a “good” or “bad” culture?
Binary thinking makes us see things in black or white terms. But reality is full of grays. Most organizations have both good and bad things.
Your Culture Is Messy – and That’s…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Demystifying Culture to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.