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The Paradox of Managing Culture: People vs. Team Dynamics
Introduction:
Culture is fundamentally about people, yet managing culture isn’t as straightforward as managing individuals. If you have five people in a room, you have a culture. But if three leave and two new people join, the culture shifts. This raises an important question: Can we really manage culture, or are we trying to manage something much more complex?
The Illusion of Granular Control:
The idea that you can micromanage culture at an individual level—controlling what people think, how they behave, and what their values are—is both impractical and ethically questionable. Those who advocate for a thriving, dynamic, and purposeful culture would likely recoil at the notion of micromanaging people down to their thoughts and behaviors. It’s clear that managing culture at such a granular level is impossible.
Managing Culture at an Abstract Level:
Instead of trying to control individuals, what we can do is manage culture at a more abstract level. We define the values and purpose of a team and invite individuals to align with these. This approach asks team members to temporarily set aside their personal values or beliefs in favor of the collective goals of the team during working hours or for specific projects.
This method of managing culture is not only more effective but also more ethical. It respects individual autonomy while creating a cohesive team environment. Employees can choose to subscribe to the team’s culture by actively participating or by continuing their employment, which implies consent to the collective values.
Building Culture Through Team Identity:
When managing culture, the focus should be on what it means to belong to the team. What are the rules of entry? What is the induction process? What behaviors and values are celebrated? By focusing on these elements, you can build a strong team culture that people want to be a part of.
Ironically, this approach to culture management involves less focus on individual people and more on the collective identity of the team. You create a vision of the team—a compelling, almost mythical entity—that people are eager to join and align with. The team becomes the cornerstone of culture, not the individual personalities within it.
Lessons from Cults and Religions:
We can draw parallels between this approach and how cults or religions operate. Both are built around ideas rather than people. Individuals join these groups not because they are perfect, but because they believe in the collective idea. They are willing to set aside parts of their personal identity in favor of the collective belief. This is precisely what we aim for when building teams within an organization.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, managing culture should focus on building a compelling team identity that people want to subscribe to. Just as companies are typically built around products or services rather than individual employees, so too should culture be constructed around the collective idea of the team. When the team’s identity is strong and compelling, people will naturally align with it, creating a cohesive and dynamic culture.
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