Culture is Concrete, Not Marshmallow

There is a book titled Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch, by Curt W. Coffman and Kathie Sorensen, Ph.D. The title makes corporate culture sound important, strong, high-impact. Yet in far too many places, building corporate culture is considered a “soft skill.” Squishy, hard to pin down, outright marshmallow material.

So which is it? Is culture something concrete, we can touch and see and measure? Or is it a squishy soft skill that is difficult to see or find its impact? It can’t be both.

I’m h...