Culture Quadrant Tests

Healthy Culture  |  Balance  |  Contentment

 

Culture trumps strategy. You need both, as you cannot have zero understanding of your purpose, mission, and vision. Likewise, you cannot have a bunch of great people who lack direction.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker

Are you off kilter in chaos in a culture of fear, doubt, mistrust, disrespect, political games, drama, and anxiety? Or, are you in a zen-like environment where you thrive in balance through the following - allowed to learn, grow, and advance?

“It didn’t matter how bleak the situation or how stultifying their mediocrity, they all maintained unwavering faith that they would not just survive, but prevail as a great company. And yet, at the same time, they became relentlessly disciplined at confronting the most brutal facts of their current reality.”  - James C. Collins, “Good to Great”

How can you gut check the reality of where you stand with the culture in the workplace, home, or relationships? Simple charts plotting how attitude and behavior can foster a healthy environment below. The following Culture Quadrant Tests gives ways you can assess your current situation, then make declarations of where you can implement improvements. 

• Truth and Grace

o   Truth and grace, wow – use this in a marriage. If you go around with pride, telling someone what do do/how to do it and what’s wrong (all truth), but are unforgiving (no grace) – we know what happens (you’re a jerk).But, if you have no truth  and all grace, you are a doormat. But, when you have a balance of truth and grace, you have contentment! You’re in a healthy, balanced, caring, open, vulnerable, and strengthened relationship (like how wind beats upon the trunks and branches of trees – you become more steadfast, it’s called “stress wood” vs. if you have plants in a greenhouse and aren’t subjected to challenges & storms – they don’t build up to withstand even the own weight of the fruit they try to bear).

Truth and Grace Quadrant Example

Examples of other Culture Quadrant Tests

• Control and Accountability

o   For example, if you have high control and low accountability – you have a crap culture. Blow hard’s going around telling people what to do, high ego levels, unhealthy competition, etc. – then no one gets anything done. If you have low control and high accountability – you get places, allow freedom, people can thrive more through trust, etc. It allows for more collaboration and less division amongst efforts. Like the following.

• Challenge and Invitation

o   Challenge and invitation meaning – giving someone a goal, but along the way when they have issues, rather than building by bashing, you coach and build into with the investment of your mentoring, time, and support. 

• Respect and Trust

o   Respect and trust, repeat of above. Without either, you have an empty relationship and culture.
 

• Purpose and Play

o   Purpose and play, if you’re all purpose you are a lame sad unit. All play, you’re just a jokester. But, if you have fun (play) and get things done in alignment to a goal/vision – you are of purpose and enjoy it.

• Words and Actions

o   Aligned? If not, we know what that means. If so = awesome!

Now, I encourage you to utilize these perspectives to dig into the culture that exists in your environments and relationships for improving abundance!

Your friend,

- B