Making Culture Pay

In a complicated and competitive world, businesses as well as other organizations need to seek every advantage they can to come out on top and be successful. In his book, Making Culture Pay, Jerry Haney discusses how we can strengthen our organizational cultures and truly make them a powerful asset to each of our groups. Though this book deals specifically with the business world, other groups and organizations, including families, can implement many of the ideas found in this book to help fortify and support their unit. While the book highlights six specific categories that impact organizational culture, I will delve into some of the most meaningful points found in the book.

First off, it is important to understand what organizational culture is. Organizational culture is the underlying thoughts and beliefs that exist within an organization that shapes the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of its members. We can think of organizational culture as the unwritten rules that people obey. Every group of people—no matter how small or how large, from our nation as a whole to our own individual families—has developed some type of organizational culture or underlying belief system. Thus, it is so important to understand and begin to shape and change these cultures for the better.

One of most basic and fundamental pieces of every strong organization is that it is built on a solid foundation of core values. If these values are emphasized and modeled by the leaders of the organization, the values will guide the interactions and behaviors of all within the organization. These principles must be clear and must be enforced and reinforced often. These core values can have a significant impact on the overall attitude and performance of the organization.

Another important element to developing a strong organizational culture is it must have a strong sense of direction and vision. People must understand where the organization is headed and how it plans to get there. The organizations most important goals and objectives must be clear among all of its members and must be in-line with the core values of the group. Each member should also clearly understand how they contribute to this vision and direction.

Developing a strong culture also requires involvement from all. Leaders need to encourage and allow others to set their own goals and measurements. They must involve others in decision making and encourage participation in other important aspects of the organization. By doing this, members of the group will more willingly take an active role in helping the organization reach its potential.

Additionally, measuring and assessing organizational culture must be an ongoing continual process. Organizations should establish formalized ongoing assessments of the organization’s culture in order to continually strive for improvement and greater impact. They must also emphasize the importance of culture and the influence each individual has on it. Understanding culture and where a group stands is important as it allows effective strategies and adjustments to be made as a group. Again this is not a onetime process but needs to be done regularly and in this book is known as the Cultural Renewal Process.

Too often organizations fail to reach their full potential as a result of an ineffective culture, and great cultures don’t just happen overnight. A strong and concerted effort must be made to shape and improve the culture of a group thus maximizing the success of the organization. Doing this will bring about great satisfaction and pride as members within the group—as well as the group as whole—flourish. So pick up this book and start making your culture pay today.