How to Improve Workplace Culture

An interview with Vistage Speaker Dave Logan

In this podcast Dave Logan details the five types (or stages) of business culture. The culture of any organization can be classified as one of the following:

Stage 1: People think, "Life sucks and there’s not much hope of it getting better." This stage is typical of gang and prison inmate culture.

Stage 2: Workers think, "My life sucks," and they are unhappy. Employees are apathetic about work and may laugh cynically about vision and values. This stage is typical of a DMV office or a poorly-run post office, and represents about 25% of businesses.

Stage 3: Employees think, "I'm great and you're not."They compete against each other in a relentless attempt to prove their own worth and get ahead in the organization. These companies tend to feel like a collection of individuals rather than a cohesive team. The vast majority of businesses — 48% — have this collective mindset.

Stage 4: Employees think, "We are great and the competitor is not." They value creativity and causes larger than their individual existence. Twenty-two percent of tribes are in this stage.

Stage 5: Employees think. "Life is great!" They use this outlook to change the world. Only 2% of businesses are here.

As a business leader, Logan says, you need to determine which stage your culture is in, and then take it up by one stage — you can only move up (or down) one stage at a time.