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Culture - what it is

Storytime

My first encounter with the word “culture” was in my mom's workspace, a microbiology lab. She used "culture" to describe a collection of Petri-dishes; each had a different solution with the same food sample placed in it. She would then place it in a fridge (it was like a fridge, to control the temperature) and wait to see what happens after an allotted amount of time, after which the results were noted.

The point of this experiment was to see the presence of certain bacteria, fungi, etc. Depending on the solution one kind of micro-organism would thrive while others starve. The growth patterns within each Petri-dish was different, indicating a particular micro-organism within the sample.

Alternative tale

I came across a similar experiment in "Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life" by Dave Asprey. He was describing Dr. Bruce Lipton’s research on stem cells, he used the exact same stem cells in different environmental conditions to observe their reactions. The results were the stem cells would be transformed into bone, muscle, or fat cells.

Dissecting the story - Takeaways

Knowing what is paramount

The food sample or the stem cells is analogous to each individual in the organization. Each having an inherent quality known or unknown to them. Lack of direction may be perceived as a weakness. Our colleagues are what is paramount. Everyone inadvertently begins raw, ambling in various stages of development, depending on the culture they are exposed to.

The culture experiment

Culture is pervasive, permeating in all directions, within each member and out towards the organization. Culture is a mechanism, not different from the experiments above, to set up a place to try new things, to make mistakes, contain the side-effects of these mistakes, learn and teach how these mistakes are avoidable.

Strive to improve the culture

Start with a baseline, assess where your team is starting from. Work towards a culture that is accommodating, tailored to bring unity among diversity, and be able to empower each individual within it.

The reality is this may not be possible, culture being transcendental, improves with subtle changes over a period or major reconstructive surgery. Barring toxic setting on one end of the spectrum, which should be a rarity but occurs more than it should; in most cases, each of us should call out antiquated things and try being the needle-pushers towards improved culture.

Be resilient

This is an action item for each of us; accept that every day is different and things go wrong. What makes great culture is each individual, one should be the epitome of how to weather the storm. When we are not resilient, we react emotionally and in a manner not behooving us. Let's strive to be level-headed irrespective of the situation to behave in the best possible manner every time.

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