#davesdailychallenge (145): Work and Anthropology. In my life long pursuit to transform the way we work I have come across some concepts that I have grown to believe are cornerstones of any successful organizational culture. These cultural cornerstones are vital to any organization regardless of its mission, people, or past. They serve as foundations that every other positive element is built upon. One such cornerstone is how humankind’s preferred biological state, the way we are programmed to thrive, relates to the modern workplace. I am currently reading the book Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. One of the reasons why I’ve always enjoyed and benefited from his work is that it is clear that he and I view the world through the same lens. We believe strongly in aligning team cultures with cornerstones such as the aforementioned preferred state. He puts this concept beautifully when he writes:

“A close study of high-performing organizations, the ones in which the people feel safe when they come to work, reveals something astounding. Their cultures have an eerie resemblance to the conditions under which the human animal was designed to operate. Operating in a hostile, competitive world in which each group was in pursuit of finite resources, the systems that helped us survive and thrive as a species also work to help organizations achieve the same. There are no fancy management theories and it is not about hiring dream teams. It is just a matter of biology and anthropology. If certain conditions are met and the people inside an organization feel safe among each other, they will work together to achieve things none of them could have ever achieved alone. The result is that their organization towers over their competitors.”

I absolutely love this passage. He candidly and succinctly drives the point home that teams are at their best when their environments are aligned with the way we are designed to thrive as humans. Everything else, from the latest technologies to financial discipline to leadership methodologies all come second to this cornerstone and those like it. I challenge you to go into work tomorrow with this lesson in mind. Look at the people you work with. See what others don’t and ask yourself how you can take your team to the next level. One way is to make sure Simon’s words become reality within your organization. Good luck.