The Culture+ Blog
Insights to help you create a compelling and connected culture
High-performance teams come from high-performance cultures
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Work small, win big
In his latest TED talk, Bill Gates said that the goal was to stop outbreaks before they become pandemics. I heard Tony Robbins once say that we should kill the monster while it is small before it is eating the city. A few thousand years ago the sage, Lao Tzu, said that the journey of 1,000 miles starts from beneath your feet. See the theme? Start early. Start small. From poet David Whyte: Start close in,don’t take the second stepor the third,start with the firstthingclose in,the stepyou don’t...
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Are you a leader? Take on less
Leaders take on too much. Too much responsibility. Too much stress. Too much work. Too many are an inch deep and a mile wide. Why? Many reasons. One of my favorites is the mix up between responsibility and accountability. The delineation is subtle. All leaders by...
Dealing with the grand oscillation
The future rhythm of work is grand oscillation. Consultants and entrepreneurs are used to this. Some months are super busy and other months are slow. The change is that workflow oscillation will creep further down organizational ranks going forward. Meaning, more of...
Let your art do the talking
People who create have a problem. When we are revealing our work to an audience, we start talking. We think we need to explain what is happening, what our thought process was, why this thing exists, and why you should like it. We desperately want you to like it! You...
More Yoda and less Luke
As leaders, our inclination is to tell. Our inclination is to jump in. Our inclination is to solve. Our inclination is to create efficiency. Our inclination is to release tension. We must ignore our inclinations. What made us great technicians--our well-informed...
Unknown acts of reciprocity
If you give, you will get. We were talking about the law of reciprocity in a training seminar I attended a few weeks back. The science shows that people have a problem. Many of us feel compelled to "return the favor" when we receive a gift. The value of the gift has...
Uptime requires intentional downtime
What would your weekend need to look like so that Monday morning you are in the best possible physical and mental condition to move forward on the real work you get paid to do? (I know, long question). Next question: What does your weekend actually look like? Cleaning...
Every project needs a champion
Don't even start that next big initiative unless you have identified its champion. That champion might be you. That champion might be somebody else. Every project needs a champion. That one person who will see said initiative through until its bitter end. Imagine any...
$100,000 on a handshake
Would you ever do a $100,000 contract on a handshake? Curious. What would have to be already established for you to be comfortable shaking that hand? You would have to know the person sitting across the table, right? And not just casually, like "know who they are,"...
Context is compelling
Context is compelling. Whether it's context about your big project provided to the larger project team, or context from the mundane. Take this water fountain. How can dispensing water be compelling? The upper right side has a digital counter. The text around it says,...
The unmistakable patina of Generation X
Generation X (age 39-53) occupies a niche role at work. I have found that people in their forties (me) and early fifties have a unique perspective. We are (mostly) past the workplace BS that surrounded us and defined our 20s, and (mostly) past the impostor syndrome we...
Make time for winners
"Make time for winners." This is courtesy of my wife who sent me a pic with that caption written on a sticky note. How does that sentence make you feel? A little off? It feels more intuitive to say, "make time for those who are struggling." To be clear, I agree with...
Stop saying “congrats!” and start asking real questions
"Say Congrats!" I'd rather say something else, LinkedIn. I would rather ask, "What do you hope to achieve with that promotion?" I would rather ask, "In light of that work anniversary, are you still doing the work you should be doing?" But saying those kinds of things?...