COLIN ON CULTURE
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Culture decay
Dysfunctional workplaces need intervention precisely because they're dysfunctional. Every day you wait the problems become more entrenched, behaviours become more normalised and cynicism grows deeper.
Broken promises
Promises create expectation. When we don’t deliver on that expectation, trust - and more - is lost. Make yours a culture that can keep its promises.
How can we make it easier?
When a workforce grows or a start-up scales, the culture also evolves and more structure is required. But that doesn’t and shouldn’t mean things have to get harder too.
The cost of hovering
Micromanagement is a culture-killer that can unravel even the most productive of teams. Swap hovering for trusting and watch your teams soar
Indomitable Spirit
It would have been easy to give up at any stage of my journey and you will hit roadblocks in your work too. You have to believe in yourself and your vision for your future self. If you don’t, no one else will either.
Chumocracy
Chumocracy in your culture creates an echo chamber effect leading to poor decision making and missed opportunities.
Bottling a crisis culture
Organisations need to shift from trying to mandate culture (or simply expecting it to happen!) to instead creating conditions where employees have the agency to shape it themselves.
Busting the silos
We cling to our silos because they're comfortable and familiar but the walls they build up can be hard to tear down without managers who understand the value of subcultures.
Investing vs. Invested
This podcast episode explores the key differences in investing in culture versus being invested - and why it matters for your organisation’s success.
Origin story
Where did you come from and where are you going? Sharing our origin stories is a great way to create cultural connection.
Change confusion
We’re in an era of change fatigue but what’s really behind the failure to engage?
Future you
January is a popular time of year for reflecting on where your career is going and making some big decisions. I spoke to the Today show on Channel 9 about strategies for ensuring what you do next is a success.
How politics affects working culture
Politics will always affect how we work, because we (the electorate) often demand that it does, however, the reaction to these changes and the choices that leaders make needn’t happen overnight. Culture (social and working) will always be driven by the humans who are living it day-to-day. This is why culture matters so much.
Strong foundations
When you build a house, there's no debate. No one says, "let's skip the foundation and figure it out later". That would be absurd. Yet in business, we do exactly that when we don’t purposefully create our culture.
Achieving peak performance
Most organisations wait until performance dips before making a change or just assume that the performance arc that they are on will naturally continue. Take a look at the Sigmoid Curve and see if you still feel that way…
Saying what needs to be said
The best organisations aren't just places where people say what needs to be said. They're places where people know how to say it in a way that makes everyone better.
Doing more with less
When we sprint from task to task, juggling our endless to-do lists, we're not actually moving forward. We're just moving.
Proper work
The real question isn't whether today's workers are doing proper work. The real question is whether today's leaders are creating proper working environments.
A Year of Culture Content
Looking back on a year of culture content designed to inspire action, spark ideas and ignite curiosity and critical thinking.
The Dark Side of Workplace Secrecy: Who Really Benefits?
Transparency isn't just a buzzword - it's a business imperative. Secretive cultures lead to reduced collaboration, decreased trust, lower team performance, and killed innovation. Are you protecting power structures at the expense of your employees?