The Culture Lab
Is Your Company Culture Your Biggest Ally or Your Worst Enemy?
Gary Hamel, an influential business thinker and co-author of Humanocracy said:
“The most profound business challenge we face today is how to build organizations that can change as fast as change itself.”
We’ve been told for decades that we live in times of exponential change. But for many of us, the scale and speed of change felt abstract and far removed from our daily routine. It wasn’t until the outbreak of COVID-19 that almost everyone on the planet had a personal experience of how quickly the way we live and work can transform. With the onset of the pandemic, our world turned topsy-turvy and the all-encompassing, unrelenting, sometimes outright terrifying disruption highlighted the importance of learning how to dance with change.
We all want to learn how to thrive and create a business that can move as fast as — or faster than — the change itself. But very few of us know how to go about it.
The role culture plays in your success
You probably know that culture plays a major role in how innovative and agile a company is and how easily it can adapt to change.
Most people agree that culture can make or break a business. But we often forget that it can also make or break individuals. You might be a rockstar but if you don’t have a rockstar environment to support you, it’s very likely that you’ll get your butt kicked and fail.
According to Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to success.
A survey by PwC, however, tells a less optimistic story — a whopping 80% of respondents say their organization’s culture will have to evolve if their company wants to succeed, grow, and retain the best people. Many organizations in the same survey report that they did try culture change or evolution of some form but failed.
What makes a successful culture so elusive? The primary reason lies in the very nature of culture.
