Strategy promises breakfast. Culture serves it.

‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’. 

I am sure we have all heard this quote before! It’s attributed to the legendary management consultant Peter Drucker, and it’s supposed to make the point that even the best business strategy in the world only works when it’s supported by a great corporate culture. 

There are only two problems with the quote.

One, Peter Drucker never said this. 

And two, it’s not true.

Let’s start with what Drucker did say: ‘Culture - no matter how defined - is singularly persistent.’ In other words, it might be good, or it might be bad. But it’s always there – and it has a profound effect on how businesses operate. 

As for culture eating strategy for breakfast, if your organisational culture is busy eating your strategy, it is dysfunctional. It probably needs urgent intervention.

Here’s the thing. A healthy culture never eats strategy. It enables strategy.

In any business, culture and strategy should never be opposing forces. They should be aligned forces. They should be so intertwined that you can’t tell the difference. Culture is the way we do things. Strategy is the way we plan to do things. If you’re looking for a source of competitive advantage, it’s not one or the other. It’s both.

Business leaders can’t simply set a strategy and assume the rest of the business will fall in behind them. As much as strategy is driven from the top, so is culture. Leaders have to live the culture visibly every day. More than that, they have to be attuned to the culture, understand it, and feel every imperceptible shift.

Strategy’s the menu. It talks a great breakfast. Culture delivers it and makes sure it’s served in a way that delights the customer. If you’ve got engaged, enthused people serving your customers, you’re going to be full every day.