HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Building a Great Culture
Various Contributors in Collaboration with HBR Editors
Harvard Business Review Press (November 2019)
Begin at the end: First determine WHAT and WHY, then WHO and HOW.
After centuries of war between their two countries, Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt were asked how they were able to reach so many agreements after twelve days of negotiation hosted by President Jimmy Carter at Camp David in 1978. Begin replied, “we did what all wise men do. We began at the end.”
I was reminded of that response again as I worked my way through HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Building a Great Culture. This book is one of the more recent volumes in a series that anthologizes what the editors of the Harvard Business Review consider to be “must reads” in a given business subject area. In this instance, building or rebuilding and then sustaining a great culture. Each of the selections is eminently deserving of inclusion.
If all of the eleven articles were purchased separately as reprints, the total cost would be about $100 and the practical value of any one of them far exceeds that. Given the fact that Amazon US now sells a paperbound edition of this volume for only $20.82, that’s not a bargain. That’s a steal.
The same is true of volumes in other series such as HBR Guide to…, Harvard Business Review on…, and Harvard Business Essentials. I also think there is great benefit derived from the convenience of having a variety of perspectives and insights readily available in a single volume, one that is potable.
In all of the volumes in the HBR’s 10 Must Read series that I have read thus far, the authors and their HBR editors make skillful use of several reader-friendly devices that include “Idea in Brief” and “Idea in Action” sections, checklists with and without bullet points, boxed mini-commentaries (some of which are “guest” contributions from other sources), and graphic charts and diagrams that consolidate especially valuable information. These and other devices facilitate, indeed accelerate frequent review of key material later.
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Each of these articles has HOW as its prefix:
o Significantly different styles can thrive within an integrated culture (Boris Graysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng)
o Positive emotions nourish and enrich communication, cooperation, and collaboration (Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O’Neill)
o Using neuroscience can build a culture of trust (Paul J. Zak)
o Sharing a commitment to higher purpose drives high-impact results (Robert E. Quinn and Anjan V. Thakor)
o The “best workplace in the world” can be the best workplace for each of its individual members (Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones)
o Thinking differently about change is so difficult…but so essential (Jon R. Katzenbach, Ilona Steffen, and Caroline Kronley)
o BONUS ARTICLE: The most disruptive innovations create the greatest resistance…and best results (Adam Grant)
o Cultural disintegration can be avoided or repaired with non-traditional initiatives (Erin Meyer)
o Cultural change is the result of a process, not the force that drives it (Jay W. Lorsch and Emily Gandhi)
o A culture of indecision can be revitalized (Ram Charan)
o Radical change is best achieved inconspicuously (Deborah E. Meyerson)
My reference earlier to what are now known as the “Camp David Accords” suggests that resistance to organizational change is almost always cultural in nature, the result of what James O’Toole so aptly characterizes as “the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.” Begin and Sadat first agreed upon the ultimate destination, then using several of the skills of a reverse engineer, they constructed a process by which to reach that destination.
Most of the companies annually ranked among the most highly admired and best to work for are also annually ranked among those most profitable, with the greatest cap value in their industry segment. This is not a coincidence. However different these companies may be in most other respects, all of them have a great workplace culture.
The eleven articles in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Building a Great Culture provide an abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel but do not offer (collectively) a comprehensive cost-effective game plan guaranteed to build or rebuild a great culture. That task remains for executives who read this book — hopefully in collaboration with others who have diverse talents, experiences, and perspectives.
As indicated earlier, the resistance to organizational change will probably be cultural in nature. With rare exception, those who defend the status quo were involved in efforts to eliminate the previous status quo. Change agents would be well-advised to keep this African proverb in mind: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”