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A fingerprint can tell us if someone was there. It cannot tell us their whole story.
Perhaps culture works a little like that.
We are shaped by where we grew up, the people around us and the things we experienced. We learn what is polite, what is rude, when to speak, when to stay silent, how to disagree and what it means to show respect.
Much of this happens without us really noticing.
Then we walk into a team carrying all of this with us. Someone speaks directly. Someone else finds it uncomfortable. One person thinks silence means agreement. Another sees it as hesitation. One person challenges an idea openly. Another waits until they are alone with you.
None of these behaviours exist in isolation. They meet, rub against each other and, over time, shape how the team works.
When these patterns are repeated and shared across teams, they begin to shape how the organisation works. We often call this organisational culture.
But what if culture is not only something we belong to, but something we carry?
Instead of looking at someone and thinking, “What culture does this person come from?”
perhaps we could ask something more curious
“What am I seeing in this person that I have never encountered or read about in a culture book?”
Maybe culture becomes more interesting when we stop trying to identify where someone fits and start noticing the fingerprint they bring into the room.
Maybe culture is a label after all. But what might we discover if we looked beyond it?
~ Megha
OutoftheBurn. Ambition with Ease.
