Corporate culture reflects the values, beliefs and attitudes that permeate a business. Corporate culture is often referred to as “the character of an organization,” representing the collective behavior of people who share a common corporate vision, goals, values, attitudes, habits, working language, systems and symbols. Corporate culture is interwoven with processes, technologies, learning and significant events. It is the sum of the values, customs, traditions and meanings that make a company unique.

Think of corporate culture as an iceberg. Icebergs appear to float on top of the water and often look huge from that perspective, but the portion that is beneath the surface is significantly larger than what is visible above the waterline.

As a metaphor for organizational culture, the tip of the iceberg is the visible culture that comprises dress code, work environment, benefits, titles and job descriptions, organizational charts, policies and procedures, and systems and processes. Looking beneath the surface, however, we find clues to “the ways things are really done around here”: accepted norms, unwritten rules, and unspoken shared attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, moods, emotions and interpretations. Often, what is above the surface is not consistent with what lies below. It is what is beneath the surface that truly supports or inhibits organizational culture.

Strong and weak cultures

A strong corporate culture exists when employees respond to stimulus because they are aligned with organizational values. A strong culture helps a company operate like a well-maintained vehicle, cruising along smoothly and efficiently. Minor tweaking of existing procedures enhances performance. In thriving, profitable organizations, employees embody the values, visions and strategic priorities of their company.

Research indicates that the strongest cultures embrace the importance of Kaizen, the Japanese word that means “continuing improvement.” Kaizen cultures require both conscious and subconscious thinking about improvements from everyone.

Conversely, a weak culture exists when there is little alignment of employees with organizational values, and control must be exercised through policies, procedures and bureaucracy. Signs of a weak culture include lack of trust, negativity and low morale, employees losing confidence in their leaders and systems, and people spending more time focusing on problems than opportunities.

Our research

Over the past eight years, Addis Intellectual Capital (AIC) has collected more than 4,000 responses to its Beyond Insurance^® Organic Growth Survey. One item states: “Our staff is enthusiastic and energized by our business model, systems and growth strategies.” Thirty-five percent of the respondents “agree”; 6% are “uncertain” and 49% “disagree.” This simple question touches on the essence of corporate culture. High-performing, organic-growth agencies “agree” with this statement, whereas under-performing agencies are “uncertain” or “disagree.”

We have concluded that agency growth, profitability and value are maximized in an environment of enlightened leaders who create a culture of creativity and innovation. They inspire their employees to “think outside the box” to develop value propositions that set them apart from their competitors. High-performance, best-practices agencies are winning the battle against commoditization because of their ability to uncover client issues and deliver cutting-edge solutions. They go about their business with a sense of confidence, simplicity, purpose and passion.

Merging cultures

The biggest challenge in merging two or more companies is combining the entities’ organizational cultures. Every organization has its own unique culture and often, when brought together, these cultures clash. When mergers do not live up to expectations, it is usually because of issues related to identity, communication, human resources, ego clashes and inter-group conflicts—all of which fall into the category of “cultural differences.” It is much more difficult to change a corporate culture once it has emerged than to create a culture from scratch.

Unsuccessful mergers and acquisitions are characterized by fuzzy vision, multiple layers of bureaucracy, poor vertical communication, minimal cross-functional collaboration, and the lack of flexible, creative management.

Lessons learned from feathered friends

When building a positive corporate culture, you can gain great insights from the migratory habits of geese. Anthropologist Angeles Arrien uncovered the following facts about how geese survive their long journey to the south in the fall and to the north in the spring. These facts offer important lessons in how to enhance corporate culture.

Fact #1: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the entire flock has 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the strength of each other’s efforts.

Fact #2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go.

Fact #3: When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. The tired goose takes advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing hard tasks and sharing leadership. Like geese, people are dependent on each other’s skills, capabilities, and unique arrangement of gifts, talents and resources.

Fact #4: The geese flying in formation honk from behind to encourage those up in front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: We need to make sure that our “honking from behind” is encouraging rather than mocking or critical. The power of encouragement is the quality of “honking” we seek.

Fact #5: When a goose gets sick or is wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help or protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then they launch out with another formation to catch up with the flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

The author

Scott Addis is president and CEO of The Addis Group and Addis Intellectual Capital, LLC (AIC), a coaching and consulting company whose purpose is to help insurance agents, brokers and carriers when working with their clients.