The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force that Transforms Performance

3. Culture: A Multi-edged Sword

Clarence Darrow, paraphrasing Charles Darwin, once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”¹ The same is true for organization cultures.

Strong cultures contribute to superior performance—until they don’t. Pride in the organization is constructive until it turns into arrogance toward customers and others outside the organization. Carefully hiring people who “fit in” and subscribe to a common set of values is great until it suppresses the diversity of backgrounds and ideas necessary for an organization’s capability to adapt to changes in the environment. You might wonder why anyone would allow this to happen.

Strong cultures relate ...