Treat culture and values as more than just wall art

The Economist's excellent Boss Class podcast on culture

I’ve recently listened to The Economist's excellent Boss Class podcast on culture. There are some rich nuggets in the episode, though some of it is perhaps oversold.

"Culture is the top driver of employee satisfaction, well ahead of compensation" - which is good news for organisations that want to underpay people while talking about "our wonderful culture." But it's not a zero sum game - it's always going to be about getting it right on both intrinsic motivation, like culture, and extrinsic motivation, like pay.

It's also about treating culture and values as more than just wall art. Stryker's personality testing obsession initially made me cringe, but they've systematically embedded their "high humility, high drive" philosophy into everything from hiring to performance reviews.

So I guess the lesson here is about having a clear vision of the culture you want and consistent use of "levers" (such as personality testing, performance reviews, consistent messaging and practice from leadership) to embed behaviours.

The podcast reinforces something I explore in "How to Lead Nonprofits" - that purpose-driven organizations have a unique advantage.

While businesses optimize for higher return on investment, nonprofits get to harness the deeper motivation that comes from a meaningful purpose - a powerful driver of intrinsic motivation.

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