Why does culture matter?

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Two questions have been on my mind often lately.

1. Why does culture matter?

2. Where does strong culture come from?

Although difficult to quantify there is little doubt in my mind that a team’s culture is often the differentiator it needs in order to be successful. But why?

In the Marines, culture is often referred to as “esprit de corps” which means, “a feeling of loyalty and pride that is shared by the members of a group who consider themselves to be different from other people in some special way.”

As a Marine, this pride of differentiation manifests in various ways. Rituals and rites of passage, a unique manner of speaking and dress, a rich oral tradition of exploits in battle passed down from one generation of Marines to the next.

Peter Drucker famously said, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I agree with him, but again why?

The more I think about this question the more I’m brought back to my own time in the Marines.

In the Marine Corps, when an infantry squad is ambushed by an enemy force they conduct what is known as an Immediate Action Drill where they orient toward the gunfire of their attackers and begin moving toward it. The theory behind this approach has roots in both the practical and the emotional.

Practically speaking, the closer you are to a target the easier it is to hit it (though this cuts two ways). From an emotional perspective, it can be quite jarring for an enemy who, until a few moments ago, believed they had the element of surprise to so quickly lose fire superiority and the initiative in their attack. Seeing a squad of well trained 20 year old kids pull this off in real life is something to behold.

And it’s from those 20 year old kids where we find our answer to the question, why does culture matter?

Teams with a strong culture execute better than teams without.

In organizations and teams where a strong culture exists there is less dragging of feet when it comes time to do the work, especially the work which is either particularly boring or particularly difficult. This leads to greater attention to detail on that work which improves the quality of it thus improving execution.

Myriad other reasons for strong culture enabling success exist also. The ability to recruit great talent, the ability to retain great talent, and the ability to tackle more challenging or ambitious initiatives than your next closest peer company. Each of these though are just manifestations of improved execution bringing us back to the same conclusion.

Strong culture = strong execution

Assuming I’ve convinced you that building a strong culture is a leadership imperative, the next step is to work toward understanding the second, and maybe a third, question from above. Where does strong culture come from? How can a leader cultivate it?

For thoughts on those questions, see y’all next week.