For years, organizational culture has lived in the realm of intuition.
Leaders sense when something feels off. Employees describe a “vibe.” Teams react to symptoms, low engagement, missed goals, and burnout, without always understanding what’s driving them. Culture becomes something we talk about passionately, invest in sporadically, and struggle to define clearly.
But culture is not magic. And it’s not a mystery. Culture is a system. And like any system that drives performance, it can be measured, understood, and improved when we’re willing to focus on inputs instead of outcomes.
Meaningful work doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when leaders intentionally design environments where people can do their best work. That requires more than gut instinct, clarity, discipline, and data that actually points to the root cause.
The Problem with How We Measure Culture Today
Most organizations rely on lagging indicators to understand their culture. Things like employee engagement surveys, net promoter scores, and annual sentiment snapshots. While these tools can surface how people feel, they often fail to explain why they feel that way, or what leaders should actually do next.
When survey results come back, the same themes appear again and again:
“We need better communication.”
“People feel disconnected.”
“Morale is low.”
So leaders respond with town halls, Slack channels, newsletters, and team-building activities. And sometimes those things help, temporarily. But too often, these efforts treat symptoms instead of causes. Culture problems rarely originate in communication alone. They stem from unclear expectations, misaligned priorities, lack of psychological safety, or leadership behaviors that unintentionally discourage growth. When organizations only look at outcomes, they miss the conditions that produced them.
If we want different results, we need a different way of measuring.
Why Inputs Matter More Than Outcomes
Think about performance the way elite athletes do. Game-day results matter, but they’re shaped by preparation…sleep, training, nutrition, coaching, mental resilience. No serious athlete looks only at the final score and ignores the systems behind it.
Culture works the same way.
If people don’t feel safe to take risks, they won’t innovate.
If expectations aren’t clear, accountability erodes.
If leaders aren’t aligned, teams fragment.
These aren’t feelings. They’re environmental conditions. When leaders focus on the inputs that shape culture, rather than reacting to its visible consequences, they gain leverage. They can intervene earlier, prioritize more effectively, and design workplaces that support sustainable performance.
The Three Conditions That Shape Culture
Through extensive research and lived leadership experience, three foundational conditions consistently show up in high-performing organizations. Together, they form a practical framework for understanding culture at its roots.
Cohesion: Are We Connected to What Matters?
Cohesion reflects how well people are wired together around shared values, beliefs, and purpose.
When cohesion is strong:
- People understand the organization’s mission.
- Values guide behavior, not just branding.
- Teams feel connected to one another, not siloed.
When cohesion is weak, work becomes transactional. People show up, complete tasks, and disengage emotionally. No amount of perks or programming can replace genuine alignment.
Culture starts with shared meaning.
Clarity: Do We Know What We’re Aiming For?
Clarity answers the fundamental questions people carry into work every day:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- How do we measure success?
- What role do I play in getting us there?
Without clarity, even talented teams stall. People work hard, but not always in the same direction. Confusion masquerades as a communication problem when the real issue is often misaligned goals and undefined expectations.
Clarity creates focus. Focus creates momentum.
Courage: Is This an Environment Where People Can Grow?
Courage reflects the environment leaders create, especially when things don’t go perfectly.
In courageous cultures:
- Learning is valued over blame.
- Failure is treated as feedback.
- Leaders model transparency and authenticity.
When courage is missing, people play it safe. They avoid risk, withhold ideas, and optimize for survival instead of contribution.
You can’t ask people to do their best work in an environment where mistakes are punished.
Why Managers Hold the Key
Culture is not set by slogans or senior leadership speeches. It is shaped daily by managers. People join organizations, but they experience culture through their leaders. Managers set expectations, reinforce values, and define what behaviors are rewarded or discouraged. That’s why measuring culture through people leaders matters.
When managers assess the environment they’re responsible for, organizations gain insight into the actual conditions teams are working within, not just how individuals feel in a given moment. This perspective shifts culture from something abstract into something actionable. It also creates accountability where it belongs: with those who shape the day-to-day experience of work.
From Measurement to Momentum
Measurement alone doesn’t change culture. What matters is what leaders do with what they learn. When organizations focus on leading indicators, conditions like clarity, safety, and alignment, they stop guessing where to invest time and energy. Priorities become clearer, strategies become grounded, and improvement becomes measurable.
Over time, this creates momentum:
- Leaders know where to focus.
- Teams experience meaningful change.
- Culture becomes a competitive advantage instead of a liability.
And perhaps most importantly, people feel the difference, not because the vibe changed, but because the system did.
Elevating Culture from Conversation to Strategy
Culture should never be a side project. When organizations treat culture as a strategic driver, one that influences performance, profitability, and growth, it earns its place at the leadership table. HR becomes an enabler of outcomes, not a cost center. Leaders gain a business case for investing in people. And teams experience work that feels purposeful, not performative.
This is what it looks like to move culture forward with intention.
Not by guessing.
Not by reacting.
But by measuring what matters and leading accordingly.
Listen to the episode: Gut + Science | 285: A Way to Really Measure Culture with Eddie Geller
Key Takeaways:
- Three Pillars of Culture: Each organization’s culture SKOR is based on cohesion, clarity, and courage, essential for measuring and improving workplace culture.
- Leader-Centric Assessment: SKOR focuses on inputs of people leaders, ensuring culture is measured among those who build it, with a business case correlating organizational improvements to potential profit
- Beyond Surveys: SKOR complements traditional employee surveys by addressing the leading indicators of culture rather than lagging symptoms.
Additional Resources: