Deepdive #4
Cultural DNA
How to define a clear, company-wide Cultural DNA as the foundation of your success.
Every winning team shares its own unique Cultural DNA:
A set of shared values that serve as guiding principles for smooth and effective collaboration among team members. For smaller teams, this Cultural DNA is often implicitly present, but as a team grows, it becomes essential to make this DNA explicit and applicable for all members. How do you approach this? How do you ensure that you go beyond words and develop a DNA that genuinely supports and guides team members?
To attract talent and foster team development; an inspiring, directional, and actionable Cultural DNA is an essential foundation for clear collaboration and which continuous team growth.
Why this Cultural DNA is the essential foundation and how to achieve it is what we explain in this deep dive. We’ll focus on key questions related to it and walk through several practical steps.
Cultural DNA = a clearly defined set of company-wide cultural values and behaviors that serve as the foundation for the team’s ways of working and success.
TOPIC #1
How to bridge your Mission Statement and Cultural DNA
Een heldere, gedeelde cultuur is dé motor voor het succes van een team. Cultuur is een middel om het doel te bereiken, niet het doel zelf. De bedrijfsdoelstelling vormt het uiteindelijke doel. Kortom: het doel is leidend, terwijl de rol van cultuur is om het team in staat te stellen dat doel te verwezenlijken.
A clear, shared culture is the driving force behind a team’s success. Culture is a means to an end, not the end itself. The business objective is the ultimate goal. In other words: the objective leads, while culture enables the team to achieve it.
To define your company's specific Cultural DNA, don’t start with values and behaviors: begin with the company’s ambition, ideally outlined in a concise and clear Mission Statement. This statement reflects the company’s ambition and the distinctive elements (in terms of expertise, approach, client interaction, etc.) that enable the team to achieve that ambition
Two primary reasons to start with the Mission Statement:
- It creates objectivity. Defining a company’s Cultural DNA is not a subjective matter. By starting with the Mission Statement, the business objective drives the desired Cultural DNA rather than individual preferences.
- The Mission Statement ensures that the Cultural DNA is formulated as the company wants it to be, not necessarily as it currently is. The Mission Statement is an aspiration. By framing the Cultural DNA around the question, “What Cultural DNA will best enable us to achieve our ambition?” you are establishing an ambitious DNA, which is precisely the intention.
TOPIC #2
How to structure and make cultural DNA actionable
Now that the foundation for Cultural DNA is clear—a powerful Mission Statement built from Why, How, and What (WHW)—we focus on the DNA itself. This consists of cultural values and behaviors that shape the culture and reinforce the mission. The goal is to make these values not only inspiring but also practical and applicable in daily practice.
Language
The impact of Cultural DNA strongly depends on the language used. Language and culture are inextricably linked. Therefore, pay close attention to the precise wording. Cultural DNAs may seem similar in content, but the strength lies in the nuance: the right tone and wording make the difference.
Applicability
The second success factor for strong Cultural DNA is applicability. Well-written cultural values that only hang as posters on the wall make no real impact on the daily culture within a team. Real impact occurs when Cultural DNA is practically applicable in team activities such as recruitment, onboarding, feedback, and performance evaluation. Only then does the DNA become an active part of how the team functions.
The goal for everyone in the team is not to only know the values but also apply them in their daily choices and behavior.
Effective copywriting is essential for making values personal and relatable. To ensure practical applicability, it's important to include behavioral examples that clearly illustrate how a cultural value translates into everyday actions. This approach makes the values tangible, enabling team members to align their behavior and feedback with them.
To maintain the balance between inspiring and practically applicable, we use the following structure for Cultural DNA:
Value: A single word that describes one of the values crucial to our success as a team.
Mantra: A powerful one-liner that reflects the desired behavior.
Description: A short, supporting text that provides clarity and context.
Behavioral Examples: Examples of everyday behavior that demonstrate what putting our values into practice looks like. Ideally broken down by levels of seniority and the intended impact on the team as a whole: operational - tactical - strategic.
TOPIC #3
Practical tips for formulating your Cultural DNA
Now that we know where to start and how to structure Cultural DNA, the next question is how to tackle the process practically. For credibility, unique character, and broad support, it’s essential to involve a wide representation of the team in this process. This can be done by starting with a predefined Mission Statement, allowing for a 'co-writing' approach without veering into vague language or compromise.
#1: Work Together
To ensure credibility, a unique identity, and broad support, it is essential to define the DNA through co-writing. The co-writing team consists of diverse cultural ambassadors who represent the organization at large: employees from various roles, with different tenures, ranging from juniors to seniors. The co-writing process must be results-driven and should not drag on indefinitely. Two key roles are indispensable: the process facilitator, who ensures focus and concrete decision-making, and the copywriter, who transforms the team’s input into clear and powerful language.
#2: Let the Mission Statement Lead the Way
The co-writing team defines a culture that supports the team in achieving its goals. Setting these goals is the responsibility of the founder, director, partners, or management team. Therefore, the Mission Statement must be clearly defined before the co-writing process begins.
During the process, the focus is on shaping a culture aimed at the desired future. This culture should be ambitious and go beyond the current situation, with the goal of effectively guiding the team toward achieving its objectives.
#3: Test & refine
Your Cultural DNA should be both unique and practical. Iteration is therefore essential: ensure the co-writing team quickly creates an initial version and immediately tests it for practical applicability (for example, by using the first version in a feedback exercise). This way, you can quickly identify overlaps, blind spots, and make adjustments where necessary.
Through this approach, you formulate a Cultural DNA that not only is embraced by the entire team but also provides a clear and ambitious compass for the future.
WRAPPING UP
A powerful mission is the compass for every strong culture
A clear and unique cultural DNA is the key to a winning team culture. It starts with a powerful Mission Statement, built from a clear Why, How, and What. This forms the basis for sharply defined values and behaviors that guide the team and help achieve their goals.
The impact of Cultural DNA depends greatly on the language and applicability in daily practice. It is essential that team members not only understand the values but also translate them into their choices and behavior. By adopting a co-writing approach, where diverse team members contribute to the formulation of the culture, a DNA is created that is credible, authentic, and effective.
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