You’ve probably heard it a million times:
“Designing and building a strong company culture is fundamental to success. But it’s also super hard.”
Sounds about right?
Well, it’s not. It’s a blatant lie. Three lies, to be precise, skillfully rolled into one.
Lie #1: Culture change is the hardest work you will ever do.
Many of the leaders I meet through my work as a culture strategist seem to have resigned themselves to the “fact” that building a healthy culture, or — God forbid! — changing a culture is harder than building a spaceship.
I was at a conference once where the president of a large group of companies was asked what he would do if one of his companies had a toxic culture.
“Frankly speaking, I’d rather sell it than try to fix it.” — he admitted.
While disappointed, I was not surprised. Almost every “guru” writing or speaking on culture depicts it as an unwieldy, starving beast ready to gobble down your strategy — preferably for breakfast.
Here’s an excerpt from an otherwise great book on culture:
“Culture change is…
