The Soul of an Organization

Up front, Gallagher informs his reader that the one purpose of this book is "to show how your values, and not your business practices, are what drive your success...[and] knowing this secret is perhaps the most strategic competitive factor in today's marketplace." I agree completely with him that there are certain keys "to empower workplaces of any size to succeed at a level far beyond what most people imagine." He carefully organizes his material within 11 chapters which, if rigorously examined in sequence and then their key ideas are carefully coordinated (indeed integrated) by decision-makers, a culture in literally any organization (regardless of size or nature) can become and remain a source of nutrition and (yes) nutrition for everyone involved. Gallagher focuses his reader's attention on several quite different companies which include The Vanguard Group, Wendy's, AutoNation, Dell Computer, Cirque du Soleil, and the St. Paul Saints. The same core values and non-negotiable principles which these companies not only illustrate but indeed celebrate can also be found in other exemplary companies such as Edward Jones, Container Store, Alston & Bird, Xilinx, and Adobe Systems. Gallagher helps his reader to understand her or his own business culture, how "strategists" drive operational excellence, how "motivators" create a positive working environment, how "team builders" maximize the ROI of human capital, how the "nimble" help to establish and strengthen an infrastructure for change, how "customer champions" build an enduring service culture, how the "passionate" help to create a sense of business as a way of life, and how "visionaries" provide their organization with an awareness of a higher purpose. He also explains why so many corporate cultures fail and why rigorous and comprehensive "cultural due diligence" must be completed prior to mergers, acquisitions, and other growth strategies.He concludes this brilliant book with some timely observations: "While corporate culture has become a fashionable term to describe the core values that drive an organization, it is also very misleading, because corporate implies that corporate culture is purely the domain of large corporations and high-flying CEOs. It also implies a certain powerlessness on the part of the individual. In reality, neither could be further from the truth." He goes on to reiterate that every organization of any size "has its own culture, and its leaders exert tremendous influence over the values that drive that culture." However, each individual within any culture has the power to define the values within her or his own working environment. At least to some extent, each individual also has the power to change the current values of the organization. Of course, there are some situations which become intolerable, situations which lack both meaning and purpose for certain people. Gallagher insists (and again, I agree with him completely) that, ultimately, the soul of any organization