I was thinking today about the idea of culture and in particular company culture.
Culture is a funny thing. On a worldwide level it is used commonly to describe a subset of people who are alike in some way - whether that is by geography, ethnicity, school. It is also used to describe the 'educatedness' of a person with society.
Dicionary.com refers to 4 definitions of culture which all include a form of social normality.
Following on from this is the question as to whether culture is able to be defined or whether it is presents itself. After all, a group of people in a crowd appear to have no culture. However, a group of people in a crowd in a football match all chanting the same tune - would indeed have a culture.
My reflection is that culture is a series of 'states of being' rather than set in stone. In other words it is a constant 'clique' mentality which shapes and is shaped by the culture's participants. In order for a culture to succeed it must be relevant to the people it is leading but at the same time evolves slowly over time.
On a company level we are able to identify culture quite distinctively in some instances. No better an example of company culture is Johnson and Johnson - where I'm doing an internship at the moment and a place I'd classify as a great culture organisation.
Culture-led organisations like J&J have extensive history and examples that embed what people should do as a respresentative of the organisation. In J&J's case this is framed as their Credo. The organisation is a shining example of how inspiration and culture can be embedded and a spearhead for an organisation to act.
Previously when I was in Undergrad and a lot more results-focused I constantly discarded culture as something that was unimportant to running and succeeding in business. However, the more that I have observed about culture the more central I think it is to the sustainably ongoing organisation.
Cultures are like personalities and brand extensions that today's employees buy into. In fact as the idea of brand identity is so closely linked to company culture - it would seem that some brands are changed consistently through company culture. A great example of this is Abercrombie and Fitch which has all employees in their concept store in London as either models or aspirational and trendy teenagers creating a hip and preppy environment that interacts seemlessly with the brand on entry.
How do we look at culture in our organisations? How do we fit in with the cultures of our firm?
Don't underestimate the power of fitting in and finding your niche.
Jono
http://www.whatsupjono.com/ | A Journey into Reading Jono's Mind
Culture is a funny thing. On a worldwide level it is used commonly to describe a subset of people who are alike in some way - whether that is by geography, ethnicity, school. It is also used to describe the 'educatedness' of a person with society.
Dicionary.com refers to 4 definitions of culture which all include a form of social normality.
Following on from this is the question as to whether culture is able to be defined or whether it is presents itself. After all, a group of people in a crowd appear to have no culture. However, a group of people in a crowd in a football match all chanting the same tune - would indeed have a culture.
My reflection is that culture is a series of 'states of being' rather than set in stone. In other words it is a constant 'clique' mentality which shapes and is shaped by the culture's participants. In order for a culture to succeed it must be relevant to the people it is leading but at the same time evolves slowly over time.
On a company level we are able to identify culture quite distinctively in some instances. No better an example of company culture is Johnson and Johnson - where I'm doing an internship at the moment and a place I'd classify as a great culture organisation.
Culture-led organisations like J&J have extensive history and examples that embed what people should do as a respresentative of the organisation. In J&J's case this is framed as their Credo. The organisation is a shining example of how inspiration and culture can be embedded and a spearhead for an organisation to act.
Previously when I was in Undergrad and a lot more results-focused I constantly discarded culture as something that was unimportant to running and succeeding in business. However, the more that I have observed about culture the more central I think it is to the sustainably ongoing organisation.
Cultures are like personalities and brand extensions that today's employees buy into. In fact as the idea of brand identity is so closely linked to company culture - it would seem that some brands are changed consistently through company culture. A great example of this is Abercrombie and Fitch which has all employees in their concept store in London as either models or aspirational and trendy teenagers creating a hip and preppy environment that interacts seemlessly with the brand on entry.
How do we look at culture in our organisations? How do we fit in with the cultures of our firm?
Don't underestimate the power of fitting in and finding your niche.
Jono
http://www.whatsupjono.com/ | A Journey into Reading Jono's Mind
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