If I see or hear the quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” by Peter Drucker one more time, I might vomit. Everyone loves this phrase, but I’m convinced no one knows what it even means. If they did, Civility Partners would be out of a job.
While I haven’t read the book this way-overused quote comes from, I’m going to assume Drucker meant that good culture will drive results no matter the strategy. Or that culture is more powerful than strategy in determining success.
Neat, but culture is part of the strategy. Culture and strategy aren’t separate enough for one to eat the other.
If your organization doesn’t take a strategic approach to culture because it either implements one-off initiatives or none at all, then your organization’s strategy is to achieve results without setting expectations for behavior or decision-making and to achieve your goals despite all odds against you.
Alternatively, if you don’t have an organizational strategy but focus on culture because it eats strategy for breakfast, your culture will be one of toxicity. Strategy means goals, clarity, and accountability to follow the plan, and without that, employees would be lost.
Being lost (i.e., ambiguity), by the way, is the number one predictor of workplace bullying. That’s because unclear roles and expectations create stress, uncertainty, perceptions of unfairness, and negative emotions. This fosters a hostile environment where people lash out, misunderstand intentions, or target those perceived as underperforming due to lack of clarity.
Make Culture Part of Your Organizational Strategy
First, it should be discussed in all four quadrants of your SWOT analysis. Is your current culture a strength against competitors, a weakness due to high turnover and resulting lost knowledge and costs to replace, an opportunity that can drive your organization towards its goals, or a threat to success because it’s toxic or not clear enough or toxic?
Second, as you and other leaders plot out how to increase market share, decrease spending, expand to new countries, or acquire a business, culture’s role in the success of those goals should be defined. Where will culture clashes exist when you expand your market to new regions and obtain more employees and customers there? How can a better culture cut operational costs and increase productivity? Does culture allow for innovation because it’s psychologically safe? Does your current culture create risks for lawsuits or not meeting compliance requirements in your industry?
Third, in addition to intertwining culture within every topic, culture may need its own section on the strategic plan. For example, will managers need training to better lead their teams to succeed in the organizational goals? Do you need to hire new people and what does culture fit mean for them?
Culture Eats Policies for Breakfast
Culture may not eat strategy for breakfast, but it sure eats policies, and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) is a wonderful example.
If you hadn’t heard, SHRM is entering 2026 in a state of disgrace between an $11.5M discrimination lawsuit payout, a Business Insider article stating that they’ve obtained a recording of CEO Johnny C. Taylor calling employees “entitled,” “complacent,” and “sloppy” during a meeting where he announced a reorganization he consulted with no one about, and several SHRM employees claiming on social media and in the Business Insider article that there’s a culture of fear and retaliation.
According to the article, SHRM has an attendance policy requiring anyone arriving one minute after 9 am to report to security and a dress code policy prohibiting sequins, denim and sneakers.
Obviously, I have no idea how or why those policies came to fruition, but I know that a great culture would’ve helped them avoid the policies and ultimately the culture of fear those policies perpetuated. My former, much younger, internal HR self imagines that enough people were showing up after 9 am that SHRM felt the need to bring the hammer down. (Don’t judge me, but I’m guilty of adding items to the corporate policy handbook when I wanted certain behavior to stop. That was before I knew anything about culture!)
If the organization had a culture of coaching and respect, however, those individuals showing up late would’ve been coached, asked why they can’t seem to make it to work on time, and given time to adjust. How showing up late violates the company core values would be discussed, and the performance management system would include measures against the core values so that being on time can be addressed through that – hopefully – collaborative system.
Attend our Webinar for More Insight
If you want to learn more about how to be strategic about culture, attend our upcoming webinar, Company Culture: Addressing Current and Future Trends.
It’s on January 28 at 10 a.m. Pacific. We’ll explore trends in culture and what they mean for you and your culture strategy.
If you love attending our webinars as much as we love hosting them, send the information on to your colleagues. They can register for the webinar here.
