A strong Culture is necessary, but not sufficient!
John R Childress wrote the best book on business culture that I have found: Culture Rules!
The reasons it is the best book on culture are:
It provides an excellent, clear description of how cultures are formed.
It is not the usual fawning “culture is everything” ode to Zappos.
As he makes very clear in this blog post, there are three key business systems necessary for success:
an effective strategy
aligned structure
a great culture.
But culture comes last. It is built over time. Childress clarifies:
“Yes, corporate culture is a critical element in business success. However, in the drive to bring culture into the mainstream of business, I believe it is given too much attention. Culture is important, but it is not everything to the sustainability of a business enterprise. Culture exists as one important element in the company business model. It is important, but not sufficient. The truth is, a great culture cannot make up for lack of funding or a poor competitive strategy.”
At Thrive Haus Consulting, we completely buy into the Childress model.
Culture (and purpose) are two very powerful concepts which we focus on to help make you successful. However, the bulk of our work is to assist you with the creation of an effective strategy and to align your organization accordingly. Sustained success certainly requires a powerful culture – but we build it over time.
To sustained success,
Joel