Vol. 2.7 Culture Matters More Than Strategy

Like I have not said this enough, but yes, I am going to say it again -- PEOPLE MATTER!!  In the workplace or your own personal life -- people are the most important ingredient. Companies spend boatloads of money developing strategies -- from the "10,000 foot level, down to the granular level", etc. whatever...but the point they keep missing and do not value, is that without the workforce (people) behind them, it will never work -- they cannot be successful.


Strategy is rational and culture is emotional.  Which is why so many leaders ignore it -- they undervalue the fact that employees (their greatest asset) are living, breathing human beings with emotions.  And if employees are engaged on an emotional level, and feel respected, valued and part of a team working toward a noble goal, those employees will work their tails off for that leader and organization -- why?? because they know that someone sees and cares about them and they will in turn care also--about the leader, organization and its mission. 


Shawn Parr*, published in Fast Company, Inc., states that "Culture is a balanced blend of human psychology, attitudes, actions and beliefs that combined create either pleasure or pain, serious momentum or miserable stagnation".  He further writes that "Your people either create or undermine value, cultivate or kill relationships, drive or reduce success.  A well-conceived strategy living in the hands of unhappy, misdirected, misinformed people is a sure way to a slow and painful death.  There is no comparison to being in the hearts and hands of energized,  informed, and motivated people".


Lastly, he states that "Culture is the field on which the strategy plays.  A vibrant and functional culture is like a blanket that embraces, protects, and nurtures the strategy.  A company without a strategy lacks direction.  A strategy without a culture that understands or embraces it is like a sport team without a spirit".


I could not have said it better.  If there is no spirit -- no one wins. Caring (spirit) infused from the top down is what makes the difference.  Remember "Friday Night Lights -- Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose"? That's what I was talking about...

*The Guvner & CEO of Bulldog Drummond, an innovation and design consultancy headquartered in San Diego.  Clients have included Starbucks, Jack in the Box, MTV, Nestle, Pinkberry, Virgin, Disney, Nike, Mattel,  Heineken and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s, among others.