Despite the fact that some of the concepts in the book are not new to someone that's done several management courses or have read other books on leadership and high-performing teams, I really liked The Culture Code.
There are many useful and practical information that can be quickly implemented to improve performance, as well as results from interesting studies that are helping understand the theory behind the suggestions made by the author. I feel I took away an important aspect of managing team that I haven't considered before: the idea that people responds in a more positive way to a safe environment than they do otherwise.
Overall and excellent book that I would certainly recommend.

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle (if you recognize the name that’s because one of his previous books, The Talent Code, was a bestseller … and I recommend that one too).

In researching this book Coyle wondered: Where does a great organizational or team culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group or strengthen a culture that needs fixing?

To answer these questions, Coyle spent four years studying world class teams to see what makes them great. He reviewed the existing research and went inside some of the world’s most successful organizations – he sat down with Pixar, he spent time with the Navy SEALs and the San Antonio Spurs and even looked at the best crew of jewel thieves to discover their secrets.

Coyle says that when it comes to groups: “Culture is not something you are —it’s something you do.”

He found there were three key elements or skills that all the successful organizations he studied had in common that boosted trust, cooperation, cohesion, motivation and overall performance.

They build a feeling of safety by creating belonging cues: “Belonging cues are behaviors that create safe connection in groups. They include, among others, proximity, eye contact, energy, mimicry, turn taking, attention, body language, vocal pitch, consistency of emphasis, and whether everyone talks to everyone else in the group.”

They share vulnerability: “Exchanges of vulnerability, which we naturally tend to avoid, are the pathway through which trusting cooperation is built.”

They establish a core purpose: “Purpose isn't about tapping into some mystical internal drive but rather about creating simple beacons that focus attention and engagement on the shared goal. Successful cultures do this by relentlessly seeking ways to tell and retell their story.”

Well researched and well written, this is a great read the principles of which can be used to strengthen your family, your team or your business. Another great Dan Coyle book!!!

Which team would you prefer to work as a part of, one where, “Instead of focusing on the task, they are navigating the uncertainty of one another, ” or one where “They stand shoulder to shoulder and work energetically together? They move quickly, spotting problems and offering help.” Seems like a no-brainer, right? Yet, my impression is that the latter is still rare and that for many leaders, focusing on creating and maintaining great team dynamics, is not even on their agenda.

The author outlines Three Key Skills: Build Safety, Share Vulnerability and Establish Purpose and provides clear actions and examples that help clarify and guide the process, eg: Be Ten Times As Clear With Your Priorities As You Think You Should Be. The reader is therefore very clear about the change she needs to make and how to go about it. Coyle describes Culture as, “a set of living relationships working towards a shared goal.” This suggests it needs constant attention. It will never be done and yet, I can’t think of a business that wouldn’t want this. Having set our goals, we want to achieve success and move forward.

I did find some of the stories just a little long, and so detracted from the thread, at times. On balance though, I enjoyed the book very much and certainly recommend it.

My thanks to the #NetGalley, the author and Random House Business Books for the free copy for my review, it is much appreciated.

What can seemingly disparate organizations such as Google and a U.S. baseball team have in common? One key factor, which is brought forth through this book, is success due to internal teams, working together and fashioned by a nurtured, encouraged and functional process. Within this relatively slim, accessible book is an interesting guide to understanding and shaping an authentic, powerful and engaging company or organizational culture. It may even help some families…

The author has effectively lifted the lid on, and looked inside, some of the most effective organizations in the world and scooped out some of their secrets, considering and analysing what is making them function, how they are achieving it and perhaps more importantly why this is a specifically valuable or different attribute. There is no secret sauce, as such, as it can be a combination of many attributes and then their specific application. All the author has done is to provide a well-curated shopping list to the reader – the harder part may be the reader implementing and/or changing things within their own organization.

Even if you don’t have a company to change or no hope of even enacting it, this book can still be an interesting, fascinating read from a purely ‘civilian perspective’. It keeps jargon, hype and insider-speak at bay, without devaluing the presented analysis, thus making it suitable for a wide range of audiences. This is all wrapped up with evidenced science, good practice, insight and much more. It is more than an ‘I think’-type book. It is offered at an amazingly low price too, unbelievably so for what you potentially get, thus there may be no excuse in passing it by.

It is a very interesting concept that has been well executed and packaged, deserving a sequential read. It is a book you will return to and quite conceivably find different nuances or revelations with each review as your knowledge and worldview changes. There is no specific key point that makes this book stand out, it is more its total package – it is all good!
The Culture Code, written by Daniel Coyle and published by Penguin Random House/Cornerstone. ISBN 9781847941268. YYYYY