How does culture relate to values?

The marshmallow test

In all likelihood you will have heard about the spaghetti test. This was an experiment that challenged various groups of people to build the tallest structure possible out of stands of uncooked spaghetti, string, tape and 1 marshmallow – which had to be on the top of the structure.

Different groups took part – some were business school students and other groups were made up of young children in kindergarten. What took place in the building of the structures and the differences between the groups was fascinating.

The business school students discussed ideas, strategies, task division and then eventually the building began. The kindergarten groups immediately got stuck in. They didn’t speak to each other much, they stood close together, grabbed for the bits they wanted and spoke in short bursts following no plan or strategy.

In dozens of rounds of this experiment, the kindergarteners build structures on average, 26 inches tall. The business students structures averaged less than 10 inches.

So how does unsophisticated beat streamlined strategy and what can that tell us about culture and values?

Psychologists call what the business school students were doing, “status management”. Trying to figure out where they fitted in, who was in charge, what the rules are, whether they could question others… and the result is hesitancy, inefficiency and subtle competition. Instead of focusing on the task, they were busy navigating uncertainty between each other.

Conversely, while the kindergarten groups appeared disorganised, their behaviour was efficient and effective. There was no competition for status, they worked together shoulder to shoulder, moving quickly, spotting problems and offering help. Working this way meant they had time to experiment, take risks, notice outcomes and end up with an effective solution before time ran out. What we see here, is a group working together producing a result which is greater than the sum of their parts.

Group culture is extremely powerful.

The importance of values lies in the fact that they  help to define the character of a culture. Values really tell us what a person in that culture should do, how they should act and behave and this is true of social cultures and organisational ones as well.

Guided by its values, culture can be seen as a dynamic system of symbols and meanings providing patterns of living and prescribing rules and models for attitude and conduct. This is the interaction point and why culture and values are so intrinsically linked.

If you want to change culture, you must look first to the values.

Going back to the spaghetti experiment, how could you change the outcome of the business students group results? If they had embodied values of teamwork, a flat structure where there was little or no hierarchy, where daring to try and not worrying about failing were embedded norms, in other words, if they had channelled their inner 5 year old and the values that came with that, then they perhaps would have performed better.

Organisations who do well with strong cultures use values that tap into our social brains to create the environment for interactions that work. Building safety, sharing vulnerability and having a shared purpose are the building blocks for strong shared purpose and having values embedded that support these skills are what provide the strongest foundations for culture.