A Quiet Reflection - Culture Belongs to You

A Quiet Reflection - Culture Belongs to You

By Gareth Hosking

Founder – CB4 Business Resource Centre

When people talk about culture, it's interesting how quickly the conversation turns to organizations and the discipline of organizational culture.

Yet I've been thinking that perhaps we've made culture far more complicated than it really is. Culture doesn't belong to an organization. It belongs to people.

Wherever people gather, culture follows. Families and homes have cultures. Schools, universities, and sports teams have cultures. Communities have cultures. Countries have cultures. And places of worship have cultures. Organizations simply happen to be one of the many places where people gather.

That's why a building on its own has no culture. An office block after everyone has gone home isn't a culture. A school during the holidays isn't a culture. A sports stadium with no players or supporters isn't a culture. The buildings remain, but the culture leaves with the people.

People are culture.

And yet, despite this, it's remarkable how often we see ourselves as participants in culture rather than contributors to it. We talk about the culture where we work, the culture in our family or the culture of our country, almost as though it exists independently of us. But it doesn't.

Every conversation, every decision, every act of generosity, every moment of impatience, every welcome, every criticism and every encouragement quietly adds something to the culture that others experience. Most of these moments feel insignificant on their own. Collectively, they become the environment we live in every day.

Some workplaces become places where people count the hours until they can leave. Others become places where people feel seen, valued and challenged to become better. The same can be said of families. Of schools. Of sporting clubs. Of communities. The same principle quietly repeats itself wherever people spend time together.

It's about recognising that culture isn't something we simply inherit. Yes, we walk into cultures that already exist, but from the moment we arrive, we begin shaping them ourselves. Whether we realise it or not, every one of us leaves a mark.

With the world full of economic pressure, political division, conflict and uncertainty, it's worth turning our attention to something much closer to home. The cultures we belong to. And rather than judging whether those cultures are healthy or unhealthy, perhaps the more useful question is a personal one.

What am I contributing to the cultures I belong to?

Because culture has never belonged to a building. It has always belonged to the people in it.

Quiet Reflection: 

Take a moment to pause and consider what you are contributing to the cultures you belong to.

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