You can also access this resource, and many others, in Issue 369 of my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter.
As HR practitioners, we spend considerable time developing talent strategies, practices, programs, and technology to support business priorities. We also know that helping leaders build a culture that supports the execution of those priorities is central to our work. As such, it’s worth periodically reassessing whether our culture-building efforts are reinforcing the behaviors and outcomes we intend or unintentionally producing different results. That’s why this new 35-minute HBR IdeaCast discussion interested me. Adam Grant joins host Adi Ignatius to explore what leaders can get wrong about culture. A few points: 1) Shared purpose vs. personal connections: Alignment around common goals matters more than friendships at work. Are we focused enough on shared outcomes, or too much on getting people to like one another? 2) Productive disagreement: Grant distinguishes disagreements about work from personal conflict and describes the “meeting after the meeting,” where people appear to agree during a discussion but later express concerns they weren’t comfortable raising. If this happens regularly in our organizations, what might it tell us about how comfortable people feel challenging ideas or decisions? 3) Agreeable takers vs. disagreeable givers: Some seem cooperative but serve themselves; others challenge colleagues to help the team. Do we give enough credit to people who challenge our thinking, even when they’re difficult to work with? These ideas don’t dismiss positive relationships. They help pressure-test our culture-building efforts. Access the full podcast to get a more complete view of the discussion.
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