Organizational culture – Recommended reading

Organizational culture reading list – must read from HBR:

Bring strategy to life

Starbucks’ organizational culture is powerful because it is tightly linked to the company’s distinctive capabilities.

The feel of Starbucks stores isn’t created merely by the layout and the décor – it exists because the people behind the counter understand how their work fits into a common purpose, and recognize how to accomplish great things together without needing to follow a script.

→ Read more: HBR – How Starbucks’s culture brings its strategy to life

How a culture of silence can eat away a company

Leaders have to they lay the foundation for a culture of dialogue where employees can speak up, share concerns, confront colleagues, advocate for better solutions, and achieve alignment and agreement where it may be lacking.

Cultures of dialogue are not only full of happier, more engaged employees – they also reap the kind of bottom-line results that can mean the difference between success and failure.

→ Read more: HBR – How a culture of silence eats away at your company

Company DNA

The term “company DNA” is sometimes used as a shorthand for an organization’s culture and strategy – a metaphor for what makes it unique.

But there may be more to the metaphor. Understanding a company’s DNA can help leaders know what they can and can’t do, and how to achieve organizational agility and authenticity in a changing world.

→ Read more: HBR – How to discover your company’s DNA

Use stories from customers to highlight the company’s purpose

Leaders commonly try to influence their company culture with a lofty statement of purpose. But despite the time and money an organization pours into crafting its own special statement, the result is often vague and generic – it sounds like every other well-meaning company’s purpose statement. One simple way around this is to highlight specific stories that illustrate the values leaders want to emphasize.

→ Read more: Use stories from customers to highlight your company’s purpose

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