HBR's 10 Must Reads on Building a Great Culture, Updated and Expanded

by Harvard Business Review

Your organization's culture can feel like something that has a life of its own: it's long-standing, inherited, and seemingly impermeable - in fact, a strong culture is often an obstacle to doing new things or going in new directions. But leaders are the stewards of a company's culture and have the power to shape it. The best leaders know that organizational culture is a fundamental and powerful management tool that can drive positive outcomes.

We've combed through hundreds of articles in the 'Harvard Business Review' archive and selected the most important ones to help you assess the type and current state of your company's culture, communicate change, do things differently, and anticipate and address implementation challenges.

This book will inspire you to determine what type of culture you have, understand the psychology behind your company's social patterns, gather input on what needs to be fixed or initiated, communicate change, do things differently, and deal with implementation roadblocks.

The collection of articles includes "The Leaders Guide to Corporate Culture," by Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng; "Manage Your Emotional Culture," by Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O'Neill; "The Neuroscience of Trust," by Paul J. Zak; "Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization," by Robert E. Quinn and Anjan V. Thakor; "Creating the Best Workplace on Earth," by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones; "Culture Change That Sticks," by Jon R. Katzenbach, Ilona Steffen, and Caroline Kennedy; "How to Build a Culture of Originality," by Adam Grant; "When Culture Doesn't Translate," by Erin Meyer; "Culture is Not the Culprit," by Jay W. Lorsch and Emily Gandhi; "Conquering a Culture of Indecision," by Ram Charan; and "Radical Change, the Quiet Way," by Debra E. Meyerson.

PLEASE NOTE: If purchasing the audiobook version of this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with audio.

©2019 Harvard Business School Publishing (P)2019 Gildan Media

Genres: Business, Leadership, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Management, Cultural, Professional Development

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2019

Reviews

[Ramil Karimzada · Rating 4 out of 5]

The articles were written on an academic level, despite this they weren't boring to read, on contrary, very interesting and informative that I managed to extract great points that will hopefully guide me through all my career

[Y T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of various articles published on HBR. While the writings shared various examples of what goes on in various companies, it wasn't easy for the reader to grasp the concepts of what to do to achieve that culture. The book came across more like academic research and reference.

One thing that I learnt was that tempered leaders can slowly change the culture of their workplace for the good, if they were to stick to their beliefs and pass on the same to others.

I would recommend skim through the book and gain the main ideas.

[Patrik Gustafsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a agile leadership coach I do train and improve organisationens towards culture of learning and trust. This books starts with science around different company cultures what strengths and weaknesses they have. It was good to learn about other company cultures strength.

The other articles in this book also have high quality and where spot on. The final article also stood out to me. It was about tempered radicals how to inspire change in a soft and steady way.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never read one of these before. I can see how some people could eat up what this book has to offer. Not for me. It was a good insight into how some people view the world, and there were definitely some things learned, but for the most part it was skimming chapters. The first paragraph per chapter tends to have 90% of the meat. Everything else is justification and speculation. To each their own.

[Ricardo Acosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful. I wish I could use a lot of its tools right away but I’m not in a management position right now. However, I’m sure I’ll come back to it when I get the chance to make a profound change. Meanwhile, several of its ideas are great for a personal development

[Annette Sutfin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and approachable reads with practical examples about influencing and changing culture in different kinds of workplaces. I especially liked the last one about tempered radicalism! Will certainly be adopting some of these behaviors into my own practice.

[Neha Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good summary of a varied set of topics!!

[Sara (onourshelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent starting place for those learning about company culture.

[Nicolás · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tool for understanding contemporary trends on corporate culture.

[PD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most HBR books: some really good and some just okay. Building culture is hard, worthwhile, and rewarding when all the parts align.

[Ardee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.05/5
2/25/26
40th anniv EDSA people power.
From Marinduque to Manila.
ReMANCOM

[Jane Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid individual articles but lacks coherent overview to pull the various aspects together.