Naming the pillars of culture

I’ve written before about how too much culture ‘stuff’ can be a bad thing for an organisation. It’s well meaning to have a purpose, vision, mission, values, behaviours and so on, but it has to be the right approach for your business or team.

The same goes for what you actually call these things. Leaders are always surprised when I consult with them when I ask them what they want to call things such as values.

‘They’re called values aren’t they?’ is the usual response and of course, they mostly are, but only if that language works for your organisation. The goal is to create a set of standards that can then be upheld across the business and if it makes sense to call them ‘standards’ instead, then do that.

Other examples include principles, philosophies, beliefs, codes and so on.

Similarly a vision doesn’t have to be called a vision, it can be called an aspiration, ambition or intent.

The process for creating these cultural pillars has to be done a certain way if they are to have the impact that you seek. What you call them, however, is entirely up to you.