I was recently leading a workshop for managers on how conversations shape culture. I noticed most of the managers were operating from a context of their formal conversations – the ones behind closed doors, or the ones they had scheduled in their calendars. Without thinking too much, I found myself drawing this on the board.

Then I asked them this question: at which end of this continuum do most of your conversations take place? Everyone pointed to the left-hand end (except one, poor person, they were in back-to-backs every day!)

Then I drew this:

And added this:

The point? Your culture is the result of the conversations you have. Most of your conversations happen in informal settings. The more you pay attention to how you show up in everyday conversations, the more you’ll shape the culture around you.

‍