It wasn’t that long ago that culture meant something grown in a laboratory. Nowadays, the first thing lots of people think of is the culture within a business, club or family. It’s a word that’s expanded its meaning in time.

I have written about the culture within Operation Flinders many times – there is an amazing sense of collegiality and working towards the same goal. This isn’t really spoken about – it just kind of happens – as almost by osmosis.

I have spent the majority of my working life self-employed and am now part of an organisation that, in my view, has an amazing culture. The first thing we did before I started was a cultural alignment survey.

I am involved in a few advisory boards and one, in particular, has a strong focus on culture and developing their people. They have recognised staff are indeed their best asset – not only to get the job done but also for being good citizens in the district.

Sporting clubs are another place where you quite often hear about culture. As the old saying goes, a champion team will always beat a team of champions. A big part of this type of club ethos comes from the internal culture.

It’s much easier if the values come from the leadership of the club or organisation.

It’s almost impossible to maintain a “perfect” culture all the time. But the good organisations will reset pretty quickly if things get off track.

Culture and values are something those committed to constant improvement don’t just practice in a work or sporting environment. These traits are so ingrained in the person, they show up in all aspects of their lives. This is where you want to get to, as it becomes second nature to those individuals, and they don’t have to consciously think about it.

For lots of people I know, their culture is innate as they have seen good behaviour all about them as they grew up. This is normally in the form of family members and friends but can also be from external groups, such sporting and community organisations.

Another interesting aspect is the willingness to speak up if someone sees behaviour that isn’t appropriate. As the saying goes “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”.

I think this is true and it takes real conviction to call out bad behaviour, especially to those of us that are easy going. Which I suspect is a lot of the population. When someone who is usually quiet speaks up, people tend to listen, as that person normally has the respect of those about them.

When this happens, it can have a domino effect on those in their circle of influence, as others may start calling out bad behaviour as well.

This is when cultural change really starts happening. Empowerment, and modelled behaviour is a strong motivator.