Most companies don’t have a culture problem.

They have a clarity problem.

I recently spoke with Ricardo Gonzalez on my podcast, and he shared an exercise that you should be concerned about...

→ Put 10 executives in a room
→ Ask each one to define your company culture
→ Watch what happens

You won’t get alignment.
You’ll get 10 different answers.

And that’s where the real issue begins.
Because if leadership isn’t aligned…

Your culture isn’t being created.
It’s being improvised.

And when that happens:

→Departments create their own “versions” of culture
→Standards become inconsistent
→Trust erodes internally
→And confusion spreads externally

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If you don’t define your culture…

your people will.
And not intentionally.

→ By habits
→ By assumptions
→ By what gets tolerated

So what actually creates culture?

Not posters on the wall.
Not buzzwords on your website.

Ricardo broke it down into 5 core elements:

→Beliefs (what we actually think is true)
→Values (what’s important to us)
→Norms (how we behave)
→Language (how we talk)
→Symbols (what we show externally)

And here’s where it gets even more interesting…

As a story strategist, I believe:

→Stories don’t create culture.
They reveal it.

If your culture is strong...your stories will be clear, consistent, and powerful.

If your culture is weak…your stories will be scattered, confusing, or nonexistent.

Because culture isn’t optional.
It’s either designed…
or it’s drifting.

Check out the full episode here.