As I’m a bit of a wine enthusiast, I work part-time at a retail wine store as part of the front-line workforce. Not only do I get to talk about great wines of Bordeaux or Barolo, I get to feel the experience of being on the receiving end of management. The connection between operations and culture was still on my mind as I started my last shift. What was the culture here at my part-time job? My conclusion was that it was a culture of “good enough”. 

I wondered what lead to this current culture of “good enough”. My first conclusion was the absence of clarity regarding the expectations of the execution of my responsibilities. The second was that there was very little accountability or feedback for my performance. I just needed to perform at a level of “good enough”. There was no real consequence or reward for executing at a higher level. The joke around the place is that you just need to be a 3 (out of 5). 

Maybe “good enough” is well...good enough. Maybe for this organization “good enough” aligns with their beliefs, purpose, and vision. I just always wonder what an organization like that would look like if their leaders and managers were to make efforts to refine tasks, provide clear expectations, and hold their team members accountable. That sounds more like an organization that would be more fulfilling to me. 

How would you label the culture in your organization and what connections can you make between your operations and the culture you have?