Strategy or Culture: which is more important?

Comparing the virtues of a company’s strategy and culture is a popular trend among business thinkers, with much time being devoted to considering which is the most important. 

Undoubtedly, if you look around hard enough, you will find plenty of articles arguing that each is the most important, with strategists - perhaps unsurprisingly - favouring business strategy as the most vital element to success while those with a greater focus on people and behaviours are likely to believe that culture comes up trumps.

There will be some, of course, who are wondering why there is even a debate surrounding which is more important. After all, should the two not go hand-in-hand? Does elevating one above the other only succeed in creating a falsehood which neglects to harness the potential power of having a good strategy and culture combined?

What is the role of strategy?

In simple terms, strategy may be best defined as the way in which a business plans to operate. It can be the written down documentation which sets out the direction a company hopes to take. There is a tendency for companies who like to cite culture as the critical factor to success to describe strategy as somewhat arcane; it may be committed to paper, but it is no match for a great culture which will determine exactly HOW things get done. 

Indeed, some argue that anybody can create a brilliant strategy, change it or even copy it. It is much harder to build a strong, productive culture.

But, without a strategy, how is a business expected to define its direction? It would be the apocryphal rudderless ship, with its final destination left only to chance and the breeze of the wind. This is hardly a business approach most leaders would advocate. 

No. There is clearly a role for strategy. No culture, however positive, can overcome a poor corporate strategy or weak decision-making. Cast your mind back to the days of the dot-com boom. Trendy offices focused on creating energising environments for staff. But with the absence of a strong strategy in many of these companies, the culture which was so quick to form soon crashed as businesses struggled to continue operating with little or flawed strategic direction.

Put simply, all the perks and benefits of a company which has a great culture to work for are worthless if the core values of that company are not encompassed by a vision which is being implemented both strategically and tactically. A culture that is not driven by strategy can be life-threatening to the long-term success of any business.

Ignore culture at your peril

Of course, that is not to say that culture does not have a vital role to place in the workplace. Each and every one of us wants to enjoy our time at work. With such a large proportion of our lives spent there, it should be a place where we feel safe and comfortable. If you do a job that you love in an environment that adds value to your everyday life, then you may consider yourself very lucky indeed. 

Not that a good corporate culture happens by chance. The companies that boast great culture have created it intentionally, making it an integral part of their corporate values, vision and strategy. Just as a culture without strategy can be dangerous, a strategy which ignores culture can become just as toxic.

Culture can be considered an essential variable in any business. Just as product, pricing and distribution are vital considerations when developing strategy, cultural strengths, such as the behaviour of front-line staff, should be taken into account. Both strategy and culture are hard to change. But understanding both - and how they interact with each other - is critical to giving any firm the competitive edge it needs to survive in an ever-changing marketplace.

It is clear that both culture and strategy have different yet equally important roles to play in business and it is arguably foolhardy to place one in a position of importance over the other. If a culture is strong, employees are more likely to be engaged in delivering its strategy. If the strategy is poor, even the best culture in the world will struggle to overcome it.

Both must work together to drive sustainable success.