Culture is what is rewarded

Don’t be fooled by posters or PowerPoint presentations. Your company culture isn’t a handful of buzzy phrases dreamed up by HR. Culture is what is rewarded and celebrated by members of a group.

From your company Slack:

Major shoutout to Omar for helping in coordination with cross-functional teams.
Kudos to Grant for quickly ramping up and creating a plan super last minute!
A huge thanks to Lola for being on top of our progress even during her paid time off.

Forget the blog posts on camaraderie, diversity, mutual respect. Those are aspirations. Culture is what leaders and peers actually reward. The highlights above point to a culture that values collaboration, speed, and sacrifice.

To understand culture, you must understand behavior. To evolve culture, you must shift incentives, not just language.