Peter Drucker: Culture eats strategy for breakfast

Many of today’s managers underestimate the essence and impact of their organizational cultures. The elements that control work places, values, ethics, and the untold rules and stories are often ignored, and business strategies, alone, are assumed to do the job. Drucker’s statement “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is wholeheartedly presenting the pain people faces in their workplaces. Growth plans and articulated business tactics can not be sustainable without a framework of cultural values and rules. Fix the culture first then define a strategy. If you operate within a culture of deception, ignorance and lack of accountability, no matter how robust or concrete the business plan you develop, it will fail its first encounter internally before externally with market. In HBR management tip, the author rightly noted that leaders should “give employees a reason to care about your customers, their colleagues, and about how to do business right in a world that rewards cutting corners and compromising values. During a turnaround, don’t focus exclusively on distinguishing yourself from the competition; find what brings you together as a company. It may be values, a vision, or a set of shared emotions. Articulate this sense of unity well and the business will follow.”

Read this tip or the full article at HBR to learn where to concentrate first.