September’s Read

Written By Nicole Lascelle

This month’s recommendation is “The Culture Code” by Daniel Coyle.

“In the Culture Code, Daniel Coyle goes inside some of the world’s most successful organizations- including the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six, IDEO, and the San Antonio Spurs- and reveals what makes them tick. He demystifies the culture-building process by identifying three key skills that generate cohesion and cooperation, and explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind…Culture is not something you are- it’s something you do. The Culture Code puts the power in your hands. No matter the size of your group or your goal, this book can teach you the principle of cultural chemistry that transform individuals into teams that can accomplish amazing things together” (The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle)

This book was rich with insight on how positive culture is carefully crafted and maintained. As someone who reinforces culture on a daily basis, this book gave me many pearls of wisdom that I thought I'd share:

  1. Why is it that some groups of people working together add up to a sum greater than that of each individual? Why is it that some groups of people working together add up to a sum significantly less than that of each individual? 

  2. Close proximity breeds collisions ( safety cues )

  3. Mental contrasting: 1) picture a goal, 2) picture the obstacles between you and that goal as vividly as possible

  4. Create an environment where the team rehearses core mantra regularly. Analyze it with their input

  5. Beehive ( every action adds to the others )

  6. Name the behaviours that support the priorities (catch phrases). And demand it from your management

  7. Select employees based on emotional capabilities, respectful treatment of employees, and management through a simple set of rules that stimulate complex and intricate behaviours benefiting customers.

  8. Create engagement around a clear, simple set of priorities that function as a lighthouse, orienting behaviour and providing a path toward a goal.

  9. The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled

  10. Embody our catch phrases like a wifi signal at 10 bars

  11. Creating a good environment is about empowering your lowest ranking employee to make decisions that support your culture. Empower them to spend company money on customers.

  12. Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they’ll find a way to screw it up, give a mediocre idea to a good team and they’ll find a way to make it world class.

  13. Great teams will immerse themselves in the environments of their movies (pixar)

  14. Japanese concept of Kaizen (continual improvement) 

  15. BrainTrust meetings: a process done in Pixar to dissect the movie's pre-release, looking for character flaws, plot holes and elements to improve on. These meetings are routine and done with the mindset to constantly seek improvement. “‘All our movies suck at first,’ Catmull says. “The BrainTrust is where we figure out why they suck, and it’s also where they start to not suck”. (The Culture Code, page 99).

Want to give this title a read?

Shop local at https://store.booksonbeechwood.ca/item/VJWgxXRi704gz11SzqDHgg

 
Nicole Lascelle