Culture: Under Construction

Recently I attended an event hosted by an organization. They made a huge deal about their expansion plans, focusing a lot on the fact that they were investing millions of dollars in new construction projects that would change the look of their facility.

This got me thinking about some blind spots that organizations have. A big blind spot is that many organizations (like the one mentioned above) focus solely on improving the look of the company. They forget that their biggest construction project is their culture! An organizations culture is always under construction. It would be a mistake to think otherwise. You have never fully gotten it right. Once you think you have and stop investing in growth, you will begin to slip. The enemy of growing is knowing! Once you believe that you know it all, you actually know nothing.

What would happen if leaders were interested more in changing the feel of their organization rather than the look? Productivity would increase. Employee satisfaction would increase. Results would improve. The organization would grow and perhaps even thrive rather than just survive! And by changing the feel and investing in the people, they would end up also changing the look. But you cannot change the feel, the culture, by simply investing in changing the way your organization looks from the outside.

If you are a leader of an organization, I encourage you to remember that your culture is under construction and it always will be. Which way will it go? Will you work toward a positive organizational culture or a negative one?

I hope you will choose a positive culture. I hope you will invest in the only area of your organization that is guaranteed to give you a positive return, your people. And as SOS founder Bill Moyer often says, “If you don’t grow, you go”