“Culture eats strategy for lunch.”
Well, almost. What great business mind Peter Drucker actually said was “culture eats strategy over breakfast.” The time of day was wrong, but the idea was right:
If you don’t have culture, the best strategy in the world won’t make a difference.
Take this quotation from Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com:
“At Zappos.com, from the beginning culture has always been the most important and to this day is the number one priority in the company. And our whole belief is that if we get the culture right then most of the other stuff like delivering great service or building a long-term enduring brand will happen naturally after it. It obviously depends on what the culture is.”
Changes leaders must always consider culture – how it can support change and what obstacles could arise from it. If you want to make change, you need the right foundation for that work. Culture is the foundation. So on this Thursday ask yourself, what am I doing today to build the culture that will create a foundation for the change I envision?