There is an element of culture hardly talked about in organizational circles because it’s so basic and so simple it gets overlooked: Time

Simply put, the more time you spend together, the more you become like each other.  That’s why your Mama told you: “watch out who you hang out with because you’ll become like them.”  

We become more like each other as we interact around basic commonalities:  how to interact with customers, or departmental commonalities: sales sees things through the eyes of sales 

while accounting sees things through the eyes of finances and budget, the leadership team sees through the eyes of making decisions, and so on.  

Spending time together can be orchestrated so that our MVV is rubbing off on each other. 

Frequent yet “casual” discussions during lunch, coffee, meetings, retreats, and in the coffee room or break room.  

But what of our new reality of working from home or avoiding direct contact, how do we do this now, in this new reality?  We need to be even more deliberate in our phone calls, FaceTime and Zooming.  We need to protect ourselves from home and isolation so that we are not isolated and alone.

Conduct virtual coffee times as well as virtual meetings.  And, take advantage of the outdoors if you can.  Have lunch six feet apart, or even in a hotel convention or meeting room where you spread out and still be together.

Spending time talking together about your MVV is not wasted time, it is culture building time.