One Culture From Many

I used to think workplace culture was important, then I went a layer deeper. I saw that the culture we created on one of my recent teams depended more heavily on the cultures we each came from. We each had a cultural starting point. Without even going into the depths of regions, families, schools, and more, many of us came from different countries. In a team of 20, we hailed from Kenya, Uganda, Portugal, Ghana, Nigeria, Canada/Poland, the Netherlands, England, Switzerland/Tanzania, Zimbabwe/England, Zambia, Scotland, and the United States. A mix of at least 15 country cultures represented in one team.

What did we navigate to establish a team culture?

We each had to be aware of three dimensions:

1. Deference to authority: How were we taught to relate to authority figures?

2. Willingness to speak up: What were we taught about raising and discussing hard things?

3. Questioning vs. answering: Were we taught to ask questions or to answer them?

Holding space for these differences is the beginning of including people in our teams. It’s showing empathy. The end result of that empathy is a team culture. From there the results you want are possible.

Feel free to send me an email if you want to create teams with productive cultures, we’ll make it happen. Otherwise, here are some questions to consider as you work with your team on each of these dimensions:

With deference to authority,

• How does this person’s behavior change when a senior manager is around?

  • Do their good ideas sound less clear?

  • Do they talk and share more?

  • Do they speak about important truths or only truisms?

  • Are they convincing?

With willingness to speak up,

• How does this person raise risks and blockers?

  • Is it early enough or only after there is a problem too big to ignore?

  • Do you hear input from them directly or through somebody else?

  • How do they balance bringing solutions early with understanding the problem fully?

  • Are they clear what they control in the situation?

With questioning vs. answering,

• What do the people on your team question?

  • Themselves, their peers, you, colleagues?

  • Can they question assumptions and dubious interpretations?

  • After getting complex information, do they ask clarifying questions?

  • When you ask questions of the team, who answers?

With all of these, you can ask yourself, “How can I normalize and reward the behavior I need from the people on my team?”

Then, “Where is it important to retain diversity in my team’s behavior?” Sure, cultural norms are important, but having a conforming culture on these dimensions is how you will miss vital interpretations, misunderstand facts, and get misled.