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I harp on a lot about "team culture" at work to an audience who's familiar with my thoughts on it, but chatting with folks from the outside world made me realise that even what I view of as "basic" ideas are often not widely appreciated.
So here's a thread of some fundamentals:
So here's a thread of some fundamentals:
What I call "team culture" is the ephemeral, intangible "glue" that holds individuals together to become organisations.
It is norms, values, traditions, habits, patterns of interaction.
It perpetuates by immersion & imitation - the way that we learn culture when we travel.
It is norms, values, traditions, habits, patterns of interaction.
It perpetuates by immersion & imitation - the way that we learn culture when we travel.
The productivity of an organisation is the sum of the output of the individuals, plus the value generated by the interactions between them.
The second term is dictated by culture. It is enormously different in different teams.
In a toxic culture, it subtracts from the output
The second term is dictated by culture. It is enormously different in different teams.
In a toxic culture, it subtracts from the output
What does a positive-value culture look like? It's one where people have each other's backs, collaborate easily, and bounce off each others' ideas to achieve more than they could've alone.
I usually cite Google's "psychological safety" research here. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html
I usually cite Google's "psychological safety" research here. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html
There is an opportunity for certain norms to be dictated: e.g. describing and agreeing organisational values and codes of conduct.
However this works better in small groups. Cultural norms in large organisations are rarely this legible, and have local reinforcement effects
However this works better in small groups. Cultural norms in large organisations are rarely this legible, and have local reinforcement effects
In this sense it's a local cultural "metis" in the Seeing Like A State sense. Efforts to dictate it from outside are likely to result in unexpected outcomes.
Effective influence is local, subtle, and sensitive to existing norms. Think systemic and watch for second-order impact
Effective influence is local, subtle, and sensitive to existing norms. Think systemic and watch for second-order impact
Certain individuals can have an outsized personal impact on a company's culture: generally, people who are looked up to as "leaders" are watched and (consciously or unconsciously) imitated. "Lead by example" very much applies here.
There are also people who are more impacted by culture than others: those who have to collaborate more for their work, particularly junior individual contributors in teams.
Those who are most affected are often also the least able to change the status quo.
Those who are most affected are often also the least able to change the status quo.
So with these thoughts in mind, some conclusions to draw:
1. For leaders who care about the operations and delivery of their org, maintaining a healthy culture is just as important as hiring great individuals.
Start by examining your own influence and the behaviour you model.
1. For leaders who care about the operations and delivery of their org, maintaining a healthy culture is just as important as hiring great individuals.
Start by examining your own influence and the behaviour you model.
2. If you've already got great individuals but they're not creating more than the sum of their parts, you'll get more value by improving culture than by hiring more individually-great people.
This can involve changing your hiring criteria, or targeted work internally.
This can involve changing your hiring criteria, or targeted work internally.
3. Sometimes people contribute more value by facilitating a productive culture than they do by individual contributions. This has multiplicative effects, depending on the scope of influence.
Recognise those folks as leaders in your thinking, even if that's not their job title.
Recognise those folks as leaders in your thinking, even if that's not their job title.
4. Tolerating people who radiate toxic culture in leadership positions will sink your org's productivity.
How do you spot them? They're the folks people don't want to casually collaborate with, or even near.
Give them feedback, coaching, whatever will change their behaviour.
How do you spot them? They're the folks people don't want to casually collaborate with, or even near.
Give them feedback, coaching, whatever will change their behaviour.
5. If you're near the top of the hierarchy, your org's culture is both less visible to you and less impactful on you compared to ICs in teams.
Make sure you're listening to folks on the ground. If they say things are bad, catch yourself before you think "it seems fine to me".
Make sure you're listening to folks on the ground. If they say things are bad, catch yourself before you think "it seems fine to me".
