This is excellent and captures much of what I have learned about installing and perpetuating an intentional culture over the past decades. The key is intention and the creation of systems whose primary purpose is to support and deliver those intentional outcomes. The most critical part is creating understanding about how “the great game of business” is played (financial transparency and autonomy to impact performance) and sharing the outcomes of the game. I learned a great deal from studying Ken Iverson’s work at Nucor captured in his book “Plain Talk”.
Really good article. The importance of culture is something I have been thinking more about lately. It is a huge part of my own research process.The problem is that it is more difficult and takes more time to learn about culture. I sometimes describe it as a "feeling" I get, which is reinforced over time the more I research a company. It often requires "reading between the lines", or at least taking note of very small signals of something the management says in a call or presentation. But it is difficult, and it is always something I am a bit weary about, because it does not seem as grounded in hard facts as other aspects, such as financials or market benchmarking. But I think you are onto something in this article, which can help you identify great business from just average. I was also thinking about another example: Nike, as I recently read Shoe Dog. Although the book focuses on the early years of the company and it is of course written to make things look in a certain way, I still got the impression that Nike had already a very strong culture from the start, with people having a "passion" for running, for sport, and for making great products. I have not researched Nike in any more than reading that book, so I would not go so far to say that this is another example of culture, but I would not be surprised if a more detailed analysis would show more signs of culture for that company. Also, I suspect writing that book could in itself be understood as a way to reinforce that original culture in Nike for future? Thanks for the article and the references.
Fantastic article with great points and examples... Mainfreight looks very interesting.
Thanks for sharing
This is excellent and captures much of what I have learned about installing and perpetuating an intentional culture over the past decades. The key is intention and the creation of systems whose primary purpose is to support and deliver those intentional outcomes. The most critical part is creating understanding about how “the great game of business” is played (financial transparency and autonomy to impact performance) and sharing the outcomes of the game. I learned a great deal from studying Ken Iverson’s work at Nucor captured in his book “Plain Talk”.
Really good article. The importance of culture is something I have been thinking more about lately. It is a huge part of my own research process.The problem is that it is more difficult and takes more time to learn about culture. I sometimes describe it as a "feeling" I get, which is reinforced over time the more I research a company. It often requires "reading between the lines", or at least taking note of very small signals of something the management says in a call or presentation. But it is difficult, and it is always something I am a bit weary about, because it does not seem as grounded in hard facts as other aspects, such as financials or market benchmarking. But I think you are onto something in this article, which can help you identify great business from just average. I was also thinking about another example: Nike, as I recently read Shoe Dog. Although the book focuses on the early years of the company and it is of course written to make things look in a certain way, I still got the impression that Nike had already a very strong culture from the start, with people having a "passion" for running, for sport, and for making great products. I have not researched Nike in any more than reading that book, so I would not go so far to say that this is another example of culture, but I would not be surprised if a more detailed analysis would show more signs of culture for that company. Also, I suspect writing that book could in itself be understood as a way to reinforce that original culture in Nike for future? Thanks for the article and the references.
Muy buen artículo Javier! As usual ;-)