Today I’m flying to Oahu to spend a few days with family before Mom and I return to California on Sunday. On Friday, we’re attending a family wedding at beautiful Kualoa Ranch on the eastern side of the island. Every time I attend one of these gatherings, something remarkable happens. I meet family I’ve never met before. Yet they’re rarely strangers for long.
Once we figure out how we’re related, there’s an almost immediate connection. Someone I’ve never met can go from stranger to loved one in a matter of seconds. There’s an instinctive sense of caring for one another simply because we’re family. That’s our culture.
And it’s a powerful reminder of what Culture can do inside an organization. Org charts establish relationships. Supervisors can direct behavior. Incentives like Christmas bonuses can encourage it. But Culture operates at a much deeper level. At its strongest, Culture helps shape the values that motivate our behavior in the first place.
Nobody has to tell us how to treat family. We already know.