Tweet

Three Core Questions That Define Organizational Culture

Guest post by: Jim Clemmer

Article Overview: Over the years we've been involved in too many "vernacular engineering" debates as management teams argue about whether the statement they've been crafting is a vision, a mission, a statement of values and goals, or the like. Often these philosophical labeling debates are like trying to pick the flyspecks out of the pepper. Unless we're lexicographers and our company is in the dictionary business, we shouldn't worry about the precise definition of vision, mission, values, or whatever we may be calling the words we're using to define who we are and where we're trying to go.

Three Core Questions That Define Organizational Culture

"I respect those who know their own wishes. The greatest part of all the mischief in the world arises from the fact that many do not sufficiently understand their own aims. They have undertaken to build a tower, and spend no more labor on the foundation than would be necessary to erect a hut." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Over the years we've been involved in too many "vernacular engineering" debates as management teams argue about whether the statement they've been crafting is a vision, a mission, a statement of values and goals, or the like. Often these philosophical labeling debates are like trying to pick the flyspecks out of the pepper. Unless we're lexicographers and our company is in the dictionary business, we shouldn't worry about the precise definition of vision, mission, values, or whatever we may be calling the words we're using to define who we are and where we're trying to go.

What does matter is that our teams have discussed, debated, and decided on the answers to these three questions (in no particular order): Where are we going (our vision or picture of our preferred future)? What do we believe in (our principles or values)? Why do we exist (our purpose or niche)? I call these the 3 Ps - picture or preferred future, principles, and purpose. They are critically important questions. They are fundamental to leading others. This is the beginning point of effective leadership. These basic issues are the fabric with which we weave our Focus and Context (vision, values, and purpose). If we're attempting to change our team or organization culture, our answers to these basic questions define the culture we're trying to create.

If we're going to further improve our leadership effectiveness, we need to have thought through and answered these questions on our own. If you have a spouse or life partner, you need to work on these questions together.

Whatever we call our answers to these questions doesn't matter. They can be termed vision, mission, values, strategic niche, aspirations, purpose, and so on. And how "snazzy", "different", or "original" our words are doesn't matter as much either. What does matter is: Can we give a unified answer to these questions? Is whatever we've developed clear and compelling? If we're a management team - and especially a senior management team - does everyone on our team passionately own what we've developed? Do we give these critical leadership issues a sharp focus and meaningful context for everyone? That can only be done through skilled, live communications and consistent management behavior.

There are no right answers to these questions. No consultant, expert, or anyone else can answer them for us. There is no one way to answer them. Each of us has our own style and approach.

I was in speaking at a quality improvement conference a few years ago. Following my presentation, I had the pleasure of hearing Bill Pollard, chairman of the hugely successful ServiceMaster Company, speak about the management principles and practices that took their organization to more than $3 billion in sales in a few decades. In his address he stressed the importance of clarifying and living the issues that were introduced in this chapter. He introduced all this by relating a recent experience he had with calling a friend and getting this message on his voice mail: ". . . this is not an answering machine, it's a questioning machine. There are really only two questions in life: Who are you and what do you what? Please leave your answer at the tone."

Related Articles
  You Get What You Reward
  The Importance of Organizational Cultural Values
  Is your leadership effective?
  Leaders Aren't Leaders Based on Their 'Say So'
  Eight Excellent Cultural Values to Reward In Your Organization
  Is brand more powerful than strategy in creating competitive advantage?
  Are you ready for your game plan?
  5 simple steps to achieving and maintaining Organizational Clarity
  Simplicity and Elegance: Expressing Your Core Competencies
  Creating a Culture of High Performance
  A simple structure in a complex world is stupid
  The Power Of Re-Defining Your Business: Breaking the Boundaries That Bind You
  WHEN YOU EXPAND YOUR PRODUCT LINE, WHERE I WOULD START?
  Where I would start expanding your product line!
  Building a Sustainable Organization Through Your People
  Why is a company culture so important
  How To Recognize Your Ideal Client, Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Culture Creates Your Brand's First Impressions
  Lesson #2: “We interview people for culture fit.”
  Culture with a little C; don’t let it undermine your business

Article Tags: leadership
Referred by: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com



Related Forum Posts
HRPreneur - Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and I recently started my own Human Capital (HR) consulting firm called HRPreneur Inc. HRP focuses on making human capital a strategic differentiator for SME's. Below is a summary about HRP; Who We Are: HRP is a Human Capital consulting firm with 30 years of experience that becomes an extension of your company by providing a full array of services to help you create a highly engaged workforce focused on achieving strategic results in order to build a long lasting great company! Mission: HRP provides small and medium sized businesses a Strategic HR Business Partner to increase employee engagement, resulting in cost savings, increased productivity and results at an affordable rate! Vision: To inspire and warrant SME's reach their full competency! Cost Effectiveness: We provide over 30 years of experience at a fraction of the cost at a strategic executive HR business level You will save between 50% to 60% in costs per year on salary, bonus, benefits, training, office space alone We will provide you additional cost efficiencies through our services Services: • Strategic Human Resources Planning • Organizational Redesign • Change Management • Organizational Culture Development • Employee Engagement Programs • Leadership Assessment and Development • Compensation Design • Talent Acquisition • Assimilation and On-Boarding • Performance Management • Talent Management & Succession Planning • Human Resources Due Diligence • Human Resources Audit • Full Service HR Outsourcing
English teachers learn Japanese as Interns - Yasunori, what about the many students that leave N. America to teach English in Japan. They may want to learn Japanese (maybe Business Japanese is a bit different) and the Japanese Business Culture.
How do you create the WOW factor in business? - How do you create the "WOW" factor in your business? For instance, what do you do to provide a "wow" factor to your clients? Share a story of a time when you've been "wowed". Define your idea of excellent customer service. What are some other things a smaller business owner do?
Re: Quote of the Day - "Don't be embarrassed about asking "stupi - One of my favorite requests when leading a class, workshop, lecture, interview, whatever... There are no Stupid Questions, don't be afraid to ask - someone else has the same question, but is afraid to ask On the other hand - try anticipate the questions Back to the first hand - Some People ARE dummer than a ROCK
Re: Email marketing strategy - [quote="cathleen":1how8x8i]Here are the some steps you need to take to develop an effective e-mail strategy: Identify qualitative goals. Analyze the current situation. Complete a competitive analysis. Define the target audience. Determine which types of e-mail meet your needs. Develop a content strategy and a frequency and send schedule. Design the e-mail template. Create quantitative goals. Compile budget and ROI (define) projections. Evaluate results and tweak the strategy accordingly[/quote:1how8x8i] Nice tips, Cathleen. Is this something you do professionally?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Counselling - Who Needs It?

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

Sales is a Flawed Model

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.