“Culture should be practiced and not need to be communicated,” says Naill in a comment to the post last Thursday about culture and how it is communicated through the company.

Hmmm. I agree culture should be practiced, but actively talking about the positive aspects of the desired culture is critical.

All kinds of conversations will occur about people and behavior in every company. These conversations will take place at the water cooler, the coffee break room, the smoking lounge, in meetings and in emails. They will occur in official communications and unofficial whispers. All of the conversations drive and document the culture inside the organization.

For the company that has determined its values mindset, actively talking about the positive aspects of people and their contribution (behaviors) is critical. The purpose is to identify those conversations and amplify them so they become the driving force, the tribal history.

These are the conversations that keep us alive. These are the conversations that distinguish one company from the next, one that is struggling and the other that sees success. -TF