1. 12 Reasons Culture
Eats Strategy for Lunch
Joe Tye, CEO and Head Coach
Values Coach Inc.
Joe@JoeTye.com
Copyright © 2013, Values Coach Inc.

2. Adapted from the Values Coach
Cultural Blueprinting Toolkit
www.CulturalBlueprint.com

3. We’ve all heard, and many of us have
affirmed, that culture eats strategy for
lunch (first attributed to Peter Drucker).
Of course, the reality is that culture and
strategy interact, and in the ideal case
they are mutually reinforcing.
This presentation shares 12 reasons why
culture really does eat strategy for lunch,
each illustrated with real world examples.
- Joe Tye

4. Each of the 12 reasons is
coupled with a question
that can help you focus on
building a stronger culture
in your organization.

5. Reason #1
People are loyal
to culture, not to
strategy

6. Southwest Airlines
didn’t earn the
highest loyalty in
the industry with
its bags fly free
and fuel price
hedging strategies

7. Be loyal to earn
loyalty.
“We’ve made a commitment to our
staff that there will be no layoffs
related to this [lean] work.”
J. Michael Rona, (then) President
Virginia Mason Medical Center

8. Question #1
How is bilateral loyalty
expected and reflected in
your culture – and what
can you do to enhance
that loyalty?

9. Reason #2
Culture provides
resilience in
tough times

10. A resilient culture was more
important than new strategies
in saving Starbucks

11. That which will kill an
organization with a weak
culture will make an
organization with a great
culture even stronger.
With apologies to Nietzsche

12. The mortal struggle to
bust the AT&T monopoly
forged a resilient culture
at MCI – and the company
literally changed our
world forever.

13. The corrupt culture of
WorldCom caused the
company to collapse
under its own weight
when the pressure was on.

14. Question #2
How tough and resilient
is your culture? Would
people be with you in
a crisis the way the
Starbucks baristas were?

15. Reason #3
Culture is more
efficient than
strategy

16. During the fuel price crisis of 1991,
Southwest Airlines didn’t have to
execute a strategy of pay cuts –
employees volunteered for it.

17. Nordstrom people don’t go
above and beyond the call of
duty because it’s in a policy…

18. This is the Nordstrom policy
manual in its entirety…

19. Question #3
How can you foster a
higher level of alignment
with your operational
and customer service
strategies?

20. Reason #4
Culture creates
competitive
differentiation

21. Les Schwab sells the same tires you
can buy anywhere else – but no one
can compete with their culture

22. “Advertising is a tax
you pay on having an
unremarkable culture.”
Robert Stephens, Founder of Geek Squad

23. Your culture is
your brand!
- Tony Hsieh

24. Question #4
What one sentence would
your people use in
response to the question:
“What is the cultural
brand of your place?”

25. Reason #5
Culture can spark
a contrarian
business strategy

26. When I was an MBA student at the
Stanford Graduate School of Business,
if I’d written a paper proposing a
business that gave away one pair of
shoes for every one we sold, I would
have flunked out!
Blake Mycoskie, Founder
of Toms Shoes

27. Toms Shoes has become
a cultural icon – creating
a level of success that
could never be attained
by strategy alone.

28. From a Glamour magazine article – NOT a paid ad!
“Celebrities from Kristen Bell to the
Jonas Brothers to Heather Graham have
all pledged to go barefoot tomorrow --
will you embrace your inner hippie for a
truly worthy cause, too?”

29. You cannot buy publicity
like that at any price –
you earn it with a great
mission and a powerful
culture.

30. Question #5
How can you inspire
your culture to get
behind something that
no one else is doing?

31. Reason #6
A brittle culture
can doom even a
great organization
(or product)

32. As witnessed by one
of the most highly
publicized funerals of
our time…

35. The fingers are all
pointing in the
wrong direction

36. What really killed Hostess
was a culture of labor-
management hostility.

37. A complacent culture can blind an
organization to external threats

38. These dedicated, hardworking people
might be more dangerous to the future
of USPS than email is.

39. Question #6
What is your greatest
cultural vulnerability?

40. Reason #7
When strategy
and culture
collide, culture
will win

41. Nardelli’s hard-fisted GE
strategies increased sales,
profits, and stock price…

42. At the cost of violating its
people-centric values and
ability to compete for the
best talent.

43. He got booted for trashing a
great culture*
* Which might have
been his strategy
all along, since he
got paid a quarter
billion dollars just
to go away…

44. Question #7
What is the greatest
cultural resistance you
can expect to your
business strategies?

45. Reason #8
Cultural miscues
are more damaging
than strategic ones

46. Not fixing Dave Carroll’s
guitar cost United $millions

47. Not to mention the damage to
the company’s already bad
reputation for customer
service…

48. And the airline’s already
troubled employee relations
(they are the ones taking the
brunt of customer ire).

49. Within four days of the video
being posted more than a
million people viewed it and
United’s stock price dropped
10%, costing shareholders
$180 million.

50. Dave has since done two
more United Breaks Guitars
videos* and written a book.
* Now with more than
20 million views

51. In his book Dave asks a
great question…

52. “Why is so much time and energy
being invested in showing product
differentiation instead of sharing
who the company is and their
unique story? To me that defines
an opportunity lost.”
Dave Carroll: United Breaks Guitars

53. Question #8
If (when!!!) you have a
social media crisis will
your people come to
your defense or join in
the attack?

54. Reason #9
Strategies can be
copied but no one
can copy your
culture

55. All the major air carriers
copied the Southwest
business model: but they all
failed the culture test.

56. Hundreds of people tour
Zappos every week but no one
can copy the Zappos culture

57. Getting a job at the Zappos
call center is more
competitive than gaining
admission to Harvard

58. That’s why a great culture is
the ultimate recruiting tool
People don’t go to work
for Patagonia because
they love stuffing down
coats into boxes!

59. Question #9
How does your culture
enable you to create
competitive distinction
(and related benefits like
premium pricing)?

60. Reason #10
Culture provides
greater discipline
than disciplinary
action does

61. We don’t need to
tell people they
can’t smoke in
our buildings or
discipline them
when they do –
coworkers will
take care of that

62. People too young to remember these
days hardly believe it when you tell
them about it.

63. Question #10
How does your culture
enforce attitude and
behavioral expectations?

64. Reason #11
Culture provides a level
of risk prevention that
cannot be attained with
strategy alone.

65. Wal-Mart’s culture of low
price at any cost has
come at a huge cost to
the company.

66. Wal-Mart has spent
over $100 million on
the investigation of
these ethical scandals.

67. And become the butt
of cartoonist jokes
everywhere…

69. Sam Walton would be
rolling over in his
grave!

70. Question #11
Would the founder of
your organization be
cheering on the sidelines
or rolling over in his or
her grave?

71. Reason #12
Culture will have a
significant impact on
your future bottom line.

73. Your bottom line next year
will largely be determined by
your current strategies; your
bottom line in the following
years will be more influenced
by your current culture.

74. “Every organization has a
culture. Unfortunately,
many, if not most, cultures
develop by happenstance...”
Pamela Bilbrey and Brian Jones: Ordinary Greatness:
It’s Where You Least Expect It... Everywhere

75. Question #12
How can you enhance
the economic impact of
your culture?

76. Your organization has a
strategic plan – but do
you have a culture
plan?

77. The Cultural Blueprinting Toolkit features 6
one-hour webinars and a 180-page workbook
that will help you create a blueprint for the
Invisible Architecture™ of your organization
(the Blueprint Behind the Blueprint™).
www.CulturalBlueprint.com