Workplace Culture Leverage Means More
Mankind discovered the advantage of the lever in the stone age. Sir Isaac Newton receives credit for framing the concepts associated with gravity. Does workplace culture leverage matter?
When asked about culture, many businesses will tell a story about their environment. They’ll mention their recent remodeling efforts, break rooms, or nature path that is around the back of the building.
These things all add value and may be important, yet they are really about shaping the environment which may have little or nothing to do with building a better culture.
Culture Contributions
Your culture includes contributions from many different angles. It is somewhat about the physical environment, yet it is also about people, communication, and symbols.
When the CEO says, “Let’s have a meeting outside of the office and be sure to BYOD (bring your own device) we’ll be accessing things during the meeting.” A segment, if not all of those receiving the invitation will get excited. They get excited because it is new, different, trendy, and gives them bragging rights about the greatness of the organization where they work.
This is leverage.
Workplace Culture Leverage
Each time organization leadership promotes or engages in emotion building activities or events, it stimulates culture. Culture is about people. Leverage is about moving something in a direction with more ease.
Organization culture is much easier to build when there is a compelling reason to participate. Pushing cultural values or creating fear is a short run game with little or no future leverage.
Avoid the mistake of assuming that culture is more about objects or material things than it is about people. Culture is created through our experiences and emotions. Passion, motivation, and the interest to build community all happen as a result.
Building something is always about more than the money that is involved.
Leverage everything that connects people.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
