July 31, 2017 / in Company Culture / by Mic Johnson
Author: Mic Johnson, talking about company culture.
“Culture eats strategy for lunch” is a well-known saying that’s been attributed to management consultant Peter Drucker.
One morning I found myself thinking about that statement and I had an epiphany of my own (I’ve been recording these moments for years and affectionately call them #micnuggets). Moments later, I shared the following on Facebook and Linkedin:
Company culture is breakfast.
Strategy is lunch.
Execution is dinner.
Success is dessert.
And none of it happens consistently if you skip breakfast.
#micnuggets
Shortly thereafter my friend David Pietrzak, Vice President, Supply Chain & Vendor Management, with National Seating & Mobility, said:
“Had to share this one internally and up the ladder. We have had a lot of conversations about how culture beats everything. Thanks.”
Here’s what happened next:
I thought how awesome it was that David took the time to share his thoughts with me. Even more awesome is how people in his company routinely talk about the importance of their organization’s culture.
I added the #micnugget to the “Blog Ideas” list I keep on my Google Calendar and now here I am writing about it.
By the way, this is a perfect example of how I’ve trained myself to “Think Like a Blogger“. When you think of a blog topic, write it down.
I started to think about the company cultures I’ve been involved in throughout my career, both as an employee and as a consultant with Blue Gurus. I’ve worked in companies of all sizes and have had my own office, sat in cubicle farms and worked virtually.
I’ve always believed that a great company starts every morning with a great company culture as it’s foundation. It takes hard work and a daily commitment from leadership and staff to make it happen.
Talk about company culture virtually disappeared during the recession. But now it’s cool again. We’re seeing a lot more stories about it and organizations have made it a focus again. This is happening not only because the economy is doing better and the competition for talent is fierce, but also because the largest generation of people in the workforce are Millennials.
Millennials (who saw their parents suffer in poor company cultures) care deeply about company culture and won’t stay long at a company whose culture sucks. I’m a Gen X’er, but I’ve been preaching about company culture for virtually my entire career. Unfortunately I worked at several companies who didn’t listen and Gen X was too small to move the needle (fortunately, it didn’t stop me from moving).
Thankfully, Millennials are forcing the needle to move quickly, and the smartest companies are doing something about it.
I want to know what you think. Take another minute or two to share your thoughts (leave a comment, email me, etc.) and experiences around company culture. Do you agree with my #micnugget? What would you add? What would you change?
As always, thanks for taking the time to read this post.
And, remember….don’t skip breakfast.
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As I am growing my business and reading about how to best succeed, the reoccurring notion I continue to find is “Care first about the employees and second about your customer.” I mean, the customer won’t KNOW they are not first, but your commitment to being a family-friendly business will draw the right customers, and staff, in. Everyone else can kick rocks.