Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast.” So, does that mean focusing on culture and working on strategy later?
In a conversation with a CEO friend whose organization is struggling with lackluster EHS&S performance, the question of which is the cause and which to focus on was the problem statement. I countered with my own question: How are the other operations performance indicators looking?
I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but this was a moment to provoke thought leadership, not just answer the question. After a couple of lengthy discussions, she and her team concluded that both were causal and both needed to be worked on…simultaneously.
I subscribe to Mr. Drucker’s quote, but it begs the question…are Culture and Strategy dependent on one another?
Should your strategy be dependent on where you are culturally? I believe so… Balance, Growth, and Maturity are pieces of this puzzle. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run…
One of my leaders, whom I admire greatly, recently used the quote…
“what you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)… that’s Culture!
I’d love to hear your thoughts …
#leadership #culture
