"There’s a famous quote, often attributed to an influential management consultant, Peter Drucker: 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast'. And, whether he said it or not, it's absolutely true.
"Even the most well thought-out strategy will fail if the people tasked with delivering it lack a strong cultural foundation to start from."
Chris Wilson, Scriberia
Over the past 20 years, we’ve worked with organisations to help them visualise their strategic plans, their values, and their purpose. We've spent thousands of hours working out what success looks like for our clients and what’s standing in their way.
From government departments to high street names, from consultancies to creative agencies, teams use every bit of their experience, skill and ingenuity to come up with the strategies that can steer them through the unique and complex challenges they're facing. But, across every sector, the challenge of engaging and aligning people with that strategy is common to them all - and is all too often overlooked.
The bedrock of your strategy
The truth is, your culture is the bedrock of your strategy. Even the most well thought-out strategy will fail if the people tasked with delivering it lack a strong cultural foundation to start from.
Organisational culture is less nebulous than it sounds. It's your values (like integrity and innovation), your norms (your rules and expected behaviours), your practices (those regular rituals that define the experience of working in your organisation), your symbols or visual language, your verbal language (your terminology or jargon), and your stories.
A lot of these elements occur naturally when you create an organisation, of course. But a strong and coherent culture doesn't happen by accident - it's curated and cultivated; shaped by its leaders to foster a sense of collective identity and belonging. And, without it, the collective effort and co-ordinated action required to deliver on the strategy when it matters, simply will not happen.
Creating a visual culture
So, when you have a make-or-break strategy to land, strengthening your culture pays. Your values can't just be words on a wall - they need to be woven into the very fabric of everything you do. Your employees can't just be clocking in - they need to speak your language, believe in your goals, know their work matters, and see the future of your organisation as their future.
Perhaps, we’re biased at Scriberia, but we know an easy way to cultivate all of those things. At work, as in life, visuals can be the foundation of your culture.
"Your values can't just be words on a wall - they need to be woven into the very fabric of everything you do. Your employees can't just be clocking in."
Creating a shared mission
By using visuals effectively, you can create a consistent cultural narrative, that builds emotional connections and embeds your identity and values. And when strategy is communicated in a way that is consistent with your culture, change feels like a shared mission rather than an imposition, transforming passive spectators into active participants, sparking engagement and giving your strategy its best possible chance at success."
Ready to transform your organisational culture? We're ready to help you.
