1. Employee parties can enhance culture.
Are you one of those leaders who think that culture is all about having a Ping-pong and Pool table at the office?
You have a Ping-Pong table and pool table at your work and have a variety of food options - great!
But culture is not done yet.
Although the power of perks is that they are tangible and their effect is easy to witness, they are not everything when it comes to culture. They are window dressing on the culture that already exists.
The actual culture is defined as the sum of the values priorities in the team or organization that has an impact on people's behaviors while they work and coordinate with each other.
The Culture development process should start with a question:
- What kind of culture do you have today i.e. the sum of the values priorities of the team, not how fancy your office is.
A culture can be good, mediocre, or even bad - even when you have a Ping-pong table at your work.
2. More conflicts equal bad culture
While this may sometimes be true, it's not always the case. In fact, conflicts can lead to true idea exchange and creativity if the company culture is based on renewal, thinking, creativity, and integration.
If you want to generate new ideas and encourage healthy conflict within your organization, it's important to ensure that your current culture can handle it. If the culture is based on belonging and achieving, conflicts may be seen as a serious threat and damaging to the business.
So, don't be afraid of conflict! Embrace it as a source of creativity and openness, but make sure your company culture is equipped to handle it.
3. Culture cannot be quantified
Organizational culture can indeed be measured, but it's all about selecting the right data sets. By looking at values and mindsets, you can quantify the number of people with certain mindsets, making it possible to answer important questions like:
- How many people are comfortable with an innovation culture?
- How many people can drive innovation projects versus those who will struggle with it?
- Is your culture aligned with your strategy?
Understanding your company's culture is essential for achieving our goals, and quantifying it helps you make data-driven decisions that lead to success."
4. Culture Alignment is uniform throughout the company
Culture alignment can vary across different departments within an organization. It's unrealistic to expect the sales department to have the same culture alignment as the HR department.
Everyone needs to understand what you are aligned to and what you are aiming for as a team/company. Knowing the desired culture and where you currently stand in that alignment is crucial. Equally important is understanding how other departments align with it. It's normal to see differences in alignment with the aspired culture, as it shows diversity and uniqueness within the organization.
Having different departmental alignments is not a negative aspect but rather a reflection of the varied perspectives and goals across the company. All need to be aware of where the company is heading, what the desired culture entails, where you currently stand, and how others are aligning with it.
5. Brining in new management will improve your culture overnight
Consider this scenario: You're on the lookout for a new sales manager, and you bring in someone who brings a fresh perspective to your business. While their values may align with your current culture, they might not fully resonate with the culture you're striving to cultivate.
Introducing a new team member can indeed impact your culture, but it's crucial to assess how this impact aligns with your aspired culture. Are they reinforcing the existing culture, which may not be optimal for the business, or are they contributing to the culture you aim to build? Understanding the dynamics of your team's culture and the influence of each new hire is key to leveraging recruitment as a tool for enhancing your organizational culture.
6. Personal values should be 100% aligned with the organizational culture
It may not be realistic for everyone to align with the culture 100%. What's crucial is understanding the desired culture and the extent to which individuals align with it.
People need to grasp their values and their alignment with the aspired culture. Achieving 100% alignment is not feasible due to our unique differences. These unique differences actually contribute to the authenticity and diversity of the culture. The key is ensuring everyone comprehends the goals of the culture being built and how they can contribute in their own best way.
Some may wonder, "Does this mean everyone must act like uniform soldiers marching together?" Not at all.
Think of a family - the smallest unit with similar walls, roles, and norms. In a family, children intuitively understand the rules and norms, what's encouraged and what's not, despite being unique individuals. Similarly, in a team, individuals should operate in their own unique way while still aligning with the culture being cultivated. It's about heading in the right direction collectively, but with the freedom to express individuality within that shared culture.
