what culture has taken root? look at your median and mode.

Your die-hard culture bearers and your disgruntled insurgents can be very distracting. They can mislead you as you try to get a handle on what kind of culture has taken root across your team and organization. Often their voices are louder, their moves are flashier, and their needs are greater. Wise leaders regularly put attention on these tails of the distribution - the very best performers and the folks who are struggling the most once they’ve decided what needs to change. 

If, however, you’re at the stage where you’re just looking for a diagnostic, a read of the room, try to screen out the people on the ends of the spectrum. Look at your median and your mode: the average performer and the most common (kind of) performer. What are the default moves of these people? Distill their behaviors, their revealed preferences, into 4-5 words and you have a rough summary of what your organization’s core values actually are.

These median and modal folks offer you the most telling indication of how your culture is understood when you aren’t there to preach about it. They show you the way we actually do things around here. 

-eric