Every single one of us creates the culture where we work through our behaviors, thoughts, and words. We are all a part of that. So as we go about our work, we make choices about what to say, what to do, and how to approach things. In those choices we create culture.

Of course, we all also have our “other” jobs–you know, the things that are in our job description that people expect us to do (and do well) or we’ll get fired. That means that in any given moment, the pressure to “do things well” by that standard could outweigh our desire to behave in a way that is consistent with this great culture we are trying to build. We are faced with all those choices–opportunities–to create a strong culture, but we frequently choose “results” over the culture and values statement that you created in last month’s off-site.

The problem here is that those choices are rational ones. It’s important to do well. It matters to both the organization and all the individual employees too. So we can’t just order them to choose culture more often. The trick is to align the culture and “doing well” in the first place. Don’t pick values because they sound nice. Pick values because you are confident that living those values will propel you ahead of your competition–in your context, with your people. Don’t leave it in the abstract. Make a clear and compelling case that this new culture–this new way of thinking and behaving and talking–will bring you better results, thus they are part and parcel of “doing things well.” Then it will be easier to hold people accountable.

Not sure if your culture is aligned with what drives success? I can help you with that.

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