Company Culture diminishing into a Company Cult
- Zoran Vidovic
- Jun 17
- 5 min read
Creating a company culture is a must as it is inevitable and a natural process that will happen regardless of our intentions.
A wise approach is to envision and work towards a positive company culture that will help employees develop and grow with the company, thus enriching the company.
If we decide not to do so, and ignore this crucial step then it will create itself.
Either way, we also need to be mindful not to overdo it and make it a rigid, not evolving and growing, plastic, homogenous, self-focused, protective entity whose sole purpose is self-preservation.
Sounds kind of like an alien creature.
Table of contents
Need for a company culture
Dangers of not creating a company culture
Dangers of creating a company cult
Need for a company culture
We have already discussed creating a company culture in one of our previous posts; Company Culture: The Force Behind the Success.
We will expand further on the process but elaborate on the need and the dangers of not creating it, or overdoing it.
Why is there a need for company culture? Because humans are social creatures with a need to belong and associate with certain groups and beliefs.
If we do not recognize this need and offer a frame for such social construction it will then be constructed by our employees without our input or consideration of our company mission and vision.
We could be lucky and have them develop a positive thriving company culture, perhaps even better than we could ever hope for. But, we need to be cautious and realistic with such expectations as the reality is far from it.
Another reason is the need to have a company culture that supports the company's mission and vision in line with the company standard. For this to be achieved we need to get engaged and set the stage for it.
We need to be the driving force behind it with all checks and balances directing the creation of our company culture.
Dangers of not creating a company culture
Leaving it to create itself is a risky approach as it will then depend on the profile of the employees governed by the power of their needs. We then open it to power grab, quid pro quo, and idolized cult-like personality taking advantage of the lack of structure.
This creates fertile ground for a destructive and toxic environment where the strongest survive by any means and not necessarily the most capable individuals with noble motives.
It can warrant withdrawal in a cohort interested in fair play with ingenuity and excellence on top of their vocabulary.
If this happens we are risking creating a toxic working environment with a toxic culture that is not going to help us achieve the company goal.
Why is this happening we might ask ourselves. The reason is human nature. We either lead or are led by others. We can distinguish between the healthy urge to lead in natural leaders and the unhealthy need to dominate others in those with more sinister goals in mind.
There's an old saying attributed to Lincoln: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power."
So, let's not test it, but rather secure a social consensus and a safe standard governing people's behavior in relation not only to their job execution but rather to their professional relations with coworkers.
Dangers of creating a company cult
This is where we need to be mindful not to overdue it. We might make our standard so uniform and tight that it prevents anyone from expressing themselves and allows only a uniform and single-minded approach to problem resolution. This creates good ground for complacency and elitism where the form is valued more than the content, and adherence to the set standard over achieving a favorable outcome.
Persisting on form over content, especially when it starts taking us away from the company mission is a dangerous process that will take us in the undesired direction. It will become its sole purpose and the company mission will become secondary.
Why so? Because the environment will not allow for new points of view and will prevent and penalize opposing ideas that are not absolutely in line with the standard. As if the standard becomes a dogma that is unquestionable and never to be revisited. If this happens the culture will adjust and accept it as a norm forming itself around it. That culture will praise and reward behavior and opinions in line with the standard but revoke and penalize those opposing it, without scrutiny.
In that environment, those in need of validation will seek positions where constant validation is going to be offered such as an arbiter of the set standard. That is where the dragon lies. It will then propel inadequate individuals lacking the capacity to lead, inspire, develop, and motivate, but rather to hold on to the known and familiar without a clear sense of direction. Those individuals are incapable of understanding anything above their need for validation, but have the desire and need to prevent anyone from jeopardizing their "precious".
So, the "precious" becomes a purpose and the ultimate goal, forming a social consensus and adjusting social behavior around it. It's headed by the great master and fueled by blind followers in their desire to achieve a higher position in the hierarchy, thus getting closer to the master while losing sight of the actual mission.
Sounds like a cult and it is probably not far from it. It will gradually eliminate any possibility of intervention as the cohort will be saturated with "followers" displaying similar needs for validation and reluctance to challenge the status quo for various personal reasons which include personal gain, lack of character, or both.
How to prevent it?
To avoid this we will need to introduce checks and balances. We need to make our standard a living document that can be questioned and advanced when the need is presented and recognized.
We need to understand the urge to lead and follow and prevent it from taking our company culture in an undesired direction by concentrating like-minded individuals in positions of power with ultimate decision-making ability without counterbalance.
So, what on earth are we talking about? We are talking about a natural and balanced approach to creating a company culture in line with our company standard, mission, and vision with a clear understanding of its limitations.
We need to understand the human need and urge to lead and follow, to belong and challenge authority. This needs to be the cornerstone of our company culture where opposing opinions are allowed and encouraged to reveal opportunities for improvement, growth, and development. A company culture that avoids the status quo and celebrates ingenuity and idea exchange in pursuit of the advancement of operational processes in line with the company mission and vision.
Keep your eyes on the target which is a company mission and vision. The standard needs to be in line with the target and it needs to foster a company culture supporting the company mission and vision and not diverting us away from it.
Are you cultivating a culture or accidentally building a cult?
Don’t let your company drift off course. Start a conversation, review your values, and audit your workplace dynamics.
Let's talk!
