Culture: A Place or a Mindset?

Jon Kent and Adam Scorey dig into one of the most misused arguments in modern business, that culture lives in the office.

They challenge the assumption that getting people back to their desks will somehow fix or strengthen a company's culture, and make the case that real culture is something people carry with them, not something pinned to a postcode.

Originally posted: https://www.intheoffice.io/vlog-episode-4

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Show Notes

What We Cover

• Why CEOs using "culture" as a reason to force people back into the office may be missing the point entirely.
• The faith analogy. You don't need a church to believe, and you don't need an office to have culture.
• How Pixar built one of the most powerful creative cultures in the world through psychological safety, not proximity.
• The difference between what a leader intends the culture to be and what their actions actually create.
• Micro-cultures within teams and why two very different styles can co-exist and thrive under the same roof (or without one).
• The "brilliant arsehole" problem when talent and toxicity collide.
• Why hiring someone who's only ever worked in one place can be a red flag at senior level.
• Gen Z's relationship with work culture, individualistic, but potentially the catalyst for something much better.
• How hybrid working forces businesses to rethink what productivity actually looks like.

Key Takeaways

• Culture is a mindset first, a place second, it lives in people, not buildings.
• Actions always speak louder than intentions, if you tell your team not to work weekends and then send emails on a Sunday, you've already set the culture.
• The snake needs a head, but the body is made of moving parts, leadership matters, but it's never just one person
• A strong culture will usually outlast a strong personality
• Gen Z's refusal to accept the status quo could be the best thing to happen to workplace culture in generations.