The Culture Triangle – A Simple Representation of Culture

Introduction As someone who has been a business manager for over 30 years, the purpose of this book started out as a way to provide any type of group or organization with easy steps for establishing or strengthening and sustaining a desirable culture. However, while writing this, the applications of the concepts beyond the workplace became more apparent and led to more content. The Culture Triangle is a teaching concept I developed and used while self-employed as a business consultant. The Culture Triangle and the associated concepts recorded here are my own opinions, based upon years of reading, education, training, and personal experience. Human beings are social creatures. We start forming strong bonds with others from the moment we are born. When two or more people choose to gather and align themselves with one another, for whatever benefit or purpose, certain dynamics come into play which dictate how they will interact according to shared social norms and conventions. These norms and conventions, centered around common beliefs and behavior, form the basis of a culture. What the people believe to be important, how they behave accordingly, and the traditions they observe, form the culture of the group. The dynamics are pretty much the same for any organization, of any size, and for any purpose. Whether the formation of an organization or group is based upon common beliefs or common purpose, emphasizing what the members have in common is natural and makes sense; it strengthens the social bonds. To the contrary, should an organization or group emphasize the differences between group members, it tends to be divisive and therefore nonsensical. Groups of people often grow larger or merge with other groups based on benefit or purpose. Once again, for the new union to be successful, the commonalities (the commons) are emphasized and the differences are de-emphasized; if not, the group eventually becomes fractured. (In any group there are always differences between individuals, and some accommodations must be made.) The benefit of the larger union outweighs any natural differences between members. This has been the case throughout human history, no matter the size of the group or organization. Family units aligned into communities, which aligned into villages, which aligned into cities, and so on. Each step of the way, common belief or purpose that benefited the greater group outweighed the differences. At work are the three elements of the Culture Triangle: Values, Behavior, and Traditions. Using this simple representation of Culture allows us to gain insight into how to establish, strengthen, and sustain a desirable culture.