How your habits become your culture

Experts

The sugar hits that we gain through isolated sessions rarely translate into implementation.
How many times do we hear people talk about culture as something that is independent to them
How many times do we hear people talk about culture as something that is independent of them? | Image source: Getty Images

How many culture-building exercises and workshops have you taken part in during your career?

If you honestly reflect on these sessions, how often can you say that the frameworks covered, and the value derived has carried further than that day?

What we have come to find over time is that the sugar hits that we gain through these isolated sessions rarely translate into implementation. What these well-meaning sessions run by well-meaning people can’t address is the makeup of the individuals coming into the room with their own set of history and ways of being.

The pervasive phenomenon in most organisations is that culture tends to be something that the people allocate to the organisation to fulfil.

How many times do we hear people talk about culture as something that is independent of them?

While I don’t disagree that some businesses have more positive cultures, or conversely, toxic cultures, the objective fact is that an organisation isn’t a living entity, and from a cultural aspect it is the sum of the values, norms and ultimately the habits of the people within it.

What does this mean and what can we do?

The only way to take company values off the wall and into the culture of the company is for the people to embody them. People have to live the culture they want to see. Weak cultures are perpetuated by apathy and finger pointing. Strong cultures are supported through a deep sense of responsibility and ownership.

This is where our habits come in. It is how we show up to situations, what we do, and what we say that, as a collective of people, will shape the organisations we are serving. Without transforming ourselves, there can be no transformation of our environment.

Remind yourself that as soon as you walk into your company offices or log into a online meeting, you should be a walking billboard for the values of the organisation.

Through intentional habituation of ideal behaviours, you will find that you will more often than not be a perpetuator of a strong culture versus a detractor, which all of us are capable of being when we are in a negative space, or we are participating in activities such as gossiping or other bad behaviours.

The next time you hear people bagging the culture, or you feel that the culture is horrible, ask yourself, how has your behaviour aligned to either serve or subvert a strong culture.

If you can honestly say to yourself that you have been on the right side of the ledger, and that the battle is too far gone to fight, then maybe you have a decision to make.

We need to be the change we want to see, and this is where what we do, supported by the right habits will impact our environments in a massive way.


RJ Singh is a corporate and ultra-endurance athlete and the creator of Ultrahabits. Find out more at Peak Performance with RJ Singh: Ultra Habits for Ultra Performance