The Invisible Hand Shaping Your Business
The invisible hand that shapes everything in business is culture. Culture is not just one important component in your workplace. It is the critical component to success, and every leader depends on it to get things done, whether they realize it or not.
That’s not to say culture is one-size-fits-all. It is not about everyone following the same formula. We tend to think that way because it feels easier, but we’ve been looking at culture all wrong.
The Big Picture
Every culture for every team or organization has the potential to exist in four distinct dimensions. One of those dimensions is always negative—the Complacent dimension—and is to be avoided. Period.
The other three dimensions—Compliant, Committed, and Courageous, are all positive but are most powerful when mixed correctly.
In fact, overemphasizing any of these positive dimensions to the detriment of others can be quite destructive and lead an organization right back into the negative dimension of complacency.
Each of these three positive dimensions is both independent of and interdependent on the others for an organization to function at its best. When people are functioning in a healthy way in all three positive dimensions, look out! That’s when organizational greatness happens, the kind that makes a significant difference in the world. The kind they write about in the business history books.
The healthy mix involves being aware of the over-under effect for each dimension. Over focus on any one of the positive dimensions to the neglect of the others, and an organization will run into trouble. Under-emphasize any of them, and the pendulum will swing back and cause just as much damage. And every organization must always remain vigilant to avoid slipping into that ever-present negative dimension of complacency.
The 4 Dimensions of Culture
Complacent. It’s called the negative dimension for a reason. Organizations in this dimension rest on success and are committed to maintaining the status quo.
This deadly culture is mired in a “what got us here will keep us here” mindset. Unfortunately, we can never be fully rid of it. The threat is always with us, but we can be vigilant to root it out continually and avoid it at all costs.
Compliant. Organizations in this dimension are driven by process and procedure and committed to avoiding mistakes while replicating success. This dimension is necessary for every healthy organization to replicate processes and avoid mistakes.
It is where order and structure reside and thus foundational to success. The secret is in getting the mix right, because an over-emphasis on Compliance is one of the quickest routes to the negative dimension.
Committed. Every growing organization must have a healthy Committed dimension to passionately pursue goals and achieve outcomes—or get left behind in the marketplace. In this dimension, an organization is driven by production and committed to achieving goals.
This dimension calls for a focus on outcomes, metrics, and getting results. When out of balance, this dimension can quickly lead to burnout, disengagement, loss of talent, and myopic thinking.
Courageous. The Courageous dimension is driven by purpose and the commitment to do meaningful work. It is the place where we step outside what we know now to embrace innovation, creativity, and change.
Organizations that learn to function well in this dimension truly make a significant impact in the world. They believe brilliance lies within the collective, so everyone contributes value. They encourage risk-taking and reward the pursuit of better—but only when mixed properly with the other two positive dimensions.
There is magic in understanding these four dimensions and how to make the most of them in your leadership.
This article has been just a 30,000-foot view on the 4 Dimensions of Culture. In the coming weeks, I’ll dive deeper into each of these dimensions and show how the proper blending of each Dimension will result in unparalleled success for your business.