Culture Shock: An unstoppable force has changed how we work and live. Gallup’s solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time.
Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
Gallup Press (May 2023)

“There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker

Whatever their size and nature may be, all healthy organizations have a workplace culture within which personal growth and professional development are most likely to thrive. It is no coincidence that companies annually ranked among those most highly admired and the best to work for are also annually ranked among those most profitable, and have the greatest cap value in their industry segment. It is also true that these companies maximize the engagement of both employees and customers — their separate but interdependent constituencies — to the extent that is most appropriate to the given circumstances.

Why did Jim Clifton and Jim Harter write Culture Shock?

“The impact of COVID-19 resulted in an awakening that shocked the world. There was wide and concerned recognition of a structural change in how humans work and live. We wrote the book for our clients, thought leaders and friends in high places. Nothing is going back to normal. This is a moment of evolutionary change.

“How we adapt to this culture shock — the [begin italics] new will of the world [end italics] will determine whether U.S. and global productivity will go up or down.

“Gallup’s solution outlines a better world of work and life — with far higher productivity and higher wellbeing — both of which needed to be fixed anyway.”

In Culture Shock, they lock in on what Gallup research reveals about WHAT needs to be done and then they explain HOW best to do it.

In or near the central business district in most major cities, there is a farmer’s market at which merchants (or at least until COVID-19) offer slices of fresh fruit as samples of their wares. In that same spirit, I now include a selection of brief excerpts from Clifton and Harter’s lively narrative:

o In U.S. companies, “only about 30% of employees are truly engaged. Another 20% are miserable and spreading their misery in the workplace, and 50% are just showing up — wishing they didn’t have to work at all — especially in this job.”

o “[begin italics] Engaged employees [end italics] create your growth, earning and stock price — your [begin italics] engaged employees [end italics] create your engaged customers.”

o “So how do you increase employee engagement? A crucial breakthrough in this book is this: Fitting [pbegin italics] strengths to role [end italics] is essential to winning in business, science, education, sports, or anything. If you stumble here, nothing else matters.”

Peter Drucker: “Few people, even highly successful people, can answer these questions: Do you know what you’re good at? Do you know what you need to learn so that you can get the full benefit of your strengths?”

o “When our chief scientist was asked to define as specifically as possible the [begin italics] most important [end italics] habit of a great manager, his answer was: [begin italics] One meaningful conversation per week with each team member [end italics].”

o “We found that nearly seven in ten full-time employees in the U.S. prefer some type of remote work arrangement. That compares with four in 10 who already have one. Among those with remote-ready jobs, [begin italics] nine in 10 [end italics] want some type of remote work arrangement.”

o “If instead of shortening the workweeks, employers focused on improving the [begin itaics] quality [end italics] of the work experience, they could nearly triple the positive influence on their employees’ lives.”

o “New job opportunities may have sparked the Great Resignation — or Great Reshuffling. But the real catalyst was a workforce that thought more deeply about their jobs and the role work plays in their lives and wellbeing.”

o “Employee engagement is foundational to improving the wellbeing, resilience, and customer focus of a workforce because it includes elements of communication, development, and collaboration. These elements set the stage for trust and overall wellbeing.”

o “The best-run organizations build cultures where employees feel like leadership genuinely cares about them.”

This excerpt reminds me again of an observation by Theodore Roosevelt: “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

o “To win in the new world of work, senior leadership needs to increase [and improve] management engagement and certify managers on the skills they desperately need. Everyone is looking for a silver bullet. Strengths-based management actually [begin italics] is [end italics] one. In the new world of strengths-based management, the engagement of the global workplace could conceivably triple in our lifetimes. Consider the implications of such a dramatic increase on global productivity, customer value, and the wellbeing of society. Then consider the alternative.”

As I worked my way through Culture Shock, I was also reminded of what Alvin Toffler predicts in Future Shock (in 1970): “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Unless and until organizations strengthen relationships with employees, there is little (if any) chance that they will be willing to achieve the level of literacy to which Toffler refers except, perhaps, to secure much more favorable employment elsewhere.

In Culture Shock, Clifton and Jim Harter lock in on WHAT needs to be done and then explain HOW best to do it. I think this will become the most valuable book that Clifton and Harter have authored or co-authored…thus far. Why? Because it will have the widest and deepest impact on leaders throughout a global marketplace that is today more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous than at any prior time that I can recall.

Here are two concluding suggestions: Highlight key passages, and, keep a lined notebook near at hand while reading Culture Shock in which you record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines) and page references as well as your responses to the questions posed and to lessons you have learned. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of key material later.

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The co-authors:

Jim Clifton is the Chairman of Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm. Mr. Clifton served as the organization’s CEO from 1988 until 2022. Under his leadership as CEO, Gallup expanded from a predominantly U.S.-based company to a worldwide organization with 30 offices in 20 countries and regions. He created The Gallup Path, a metric-based economic model that establishes the linkages among human nature in the workplace, customer engagement and business outcomes. This model is used in performance management systems in more than 500 companies worldwide. Another of his innovations, the Gallup World Poll, gives the world’s seven billion citizens a voice on virtually all key global issues.

Clifton is the author of Wall Street Journal bestseller Wellbeing at Work, released in 2021, a book that explores how to build resilient and thriving teams in organizations. He is also author of the No. 1 Wall Street Journal bestsellers It’s the Manager,  Born to Build, and The Coming Jobs War, as well as many articles on global leadership. His blog appears regularly in the Influencer section of LinkedIn and on Gallup.com’s Chairman’s Blog.

Jim Harter, Ph.D., is Chief Scientist, Workplace for Gallup and bestselling coauthor of Culture Shock, Wellbeing at Work, It’s the Manager, 12: The Elements of Great Managing and Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements. His research is also featured in the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, First, Break All the Rules.

Harter has led more than 1,000 studies of workplace effectiveness, including the largest ongoing meta-analysis of human potential and business unit performance. His work has also appeared in many publications, including Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and Time Magazine, and in many prominent business and academic journals.