I have been following the work of Grant McCracken for a while and have yet to be disappointed. McCracken is an anthropologist that studies culture in organizations and has taught at MIT, Harvard and is a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge. Following his previous work Chief Culture Officer in 2011, his latest book on Culture is just as informative and more importantly, for summer reading, entertaining. Culturematic is about making an ingenuity engine that drives performance – something sorely needed in this economy. For emerging producers of culture, this book serves as a digital guide to the territory. For traditional producers of culture – hopefully the book will act as a source of inspiration. How to manage innovation from the C-suite? This book provides some welcome guidelines for creating a culture of innovation. If you want to get ahead of your competition, the most secret sauce of competitive advantage is your culture. McCracken shows you both why and how. He blogs extensively at culture by.com on the intersection points between anthropology and economics. Worth checking out.
Tag Archives: business transformation
Built on Values
Interested in creating a corporate culture that outperforms your competition? Ann Rhoades has shared her experience with companies such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines and reveals how leaders can create a winning environment.
Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture that Outperforms the Competition
Most important in my view, not only does this great little book show you how to implement a corporate culture program using the Values Blueprint, it shows you how to measure your culture in order to optimize performance. When you execute on the Values Workout, specifics are both encouraged and examples made available to aid your progress. An example:
Linking behaviours to your values system means consensus on the chosen values. So, if you say you have integrity as an organization, how do you define the meaning? Examples used in the book are:
1. demonstrating honesty, trust and mutual respect
2. never compromising values for short-term results
3. holding yourself and others accountable to actions and outcomes
4. following through on commitment and keeping promises.
Hmmmm – which one to choose? And, what behaviors demonstrate your understanding? Make sure that they are:
1. observable
2. start with an action word
3. assessable
4. trainable
5. hireable
6. rewardable.
Written in easy to understand language, this book is a gem!
Ginger Grant is an expert on corporate culture and a professional keynote speaker. If you are interested in hearing more about how culture can impact the performance in your organization, please contact:
Beyond
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Authors, Mario Raich and Simon Dolan have produced an intriguing roadmap into our future – business and society in transformation. Dolan, a professor at ESADE is one of the reasons why Barcelona has one of the best business programs in the world. This book will give you a taste of where business needs to focus in order to survive in this new economy. It also shows why North America is falling behind in innovation.
ReWork
Simple, straightforward and based in experience, ReWork speaks to a different approach to strategic intent. What you do is what matters, not what you think or say. The most important thing to do is begin. Interesting advice – expanded by the authors into a playbook for leveraging creativity. I may not agree with everything proposed, but an interesting and enjoyable read!
MythGinger 