Company culture can feel hard to control, which is why many leaders avoid deliberately creating it. But you can’t just let culture happen. In fact, companies should be as intentional about culture as they are about strategy and business model innovation. To become more systematic about culture design, you need to have tough conversations about what your current culture is and what your ideal culture looks like. Then you can work to bring the two closer together. Start these discussions by focusing on three elements:
- Outcomes. The things you want (and don’t want) your culture to achieve.
- Behaviors. The visible parts of your culture; the positive or negative actions people perform every day that result in outcomes.
- Enablers and blockers. The formal or informal policies, rituals, actions, and rules that enable or block your culture — they’re the elements that truly help you achieve your desired culture.
Adapted from "Don't Let Your Company Culture Just Happen," by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, and Kavi Guppta
