Babystep 10: Strategic Culture
Depending on the strategy of your business, you will form within your business a separate culture that supports these decisions. This is called strategic culture.
Strategic culture can dictate how you make decisions, how you spend money, how you innovate, how quickly you implement changes, etc.
If you’re a luxury brand then you’ve strategically decided that you have to buy the best equipment, you’ll spend money on remodels and you’ll spend money on amazing uniforms. That’s a part of your strategic culture.
If you’re a coffee shop that has strategically decided to serve coffee at the lowest cost possible, then you’re going to decide to be frugal with your spending.
If you’re a service-orientated coffee shop then maybe you’ve decided that decisions can be made at the front line.
If you have thousands of stores like Starbucks, then your strategic culture is to be standardized across every shop.
Strategic culture is unique from foundational culture and your own unique culture (your why, values, etc.) because it is the only culture that is decided upon. All other cultures are discovered and never change but strategic culture is created and can always change depending on what needs to happen.
Your strategic culture is that you’re very willing to spend money and then a pandemic happens and you decide that you have to be more frugal.
You might normally innovate slowly but then there’s a pandemic and you decide you have to execute rapidly in order to survive.
Here’s the key with strategic culture: the founder needs to be able to set his/her personal preferences aside and realize that these are not my core values.
Do you love innovation but it would be more strategic for you to spend less money on innovation? Then you must spend less. The founder should put aside their own inclinations and decide what’s best for the business.
After you’ve decided on your strategic culture, it helps to be clear with your team. Tell them why you spend less money. If you’re bureaucratic, be proud and explain why. Show your team that it’s intentional and that you’re not just trying to be difficult.
When people understand, they are much more willing to follow along.
Without a culture that supports your strategies, your strategies will either be less effective or ineffective. Strategic culture is an important aspect of your business that will support the strategies you’ve decided upon.
You can purchase SCI’s, “From Your Coffee Shop Dream, To Your Dream Coffee Shop” book here.
With SCI’s book, you’ll walk out these steps through the fictional, but all too relatable, story of Claire Wallace as she journeys toward her dream coffee shop.