“A bad system will beat a good person every time” – Edward Demming
Not even the world’s most powerful man is exempt from the influence of culture.
“How we do things around here” is fluid, dynamic and changing.
Without purposeful nurturing to encourage the behaviours that support your organisation’s goals, it will grow in unanticipated ways – but still influence those within its system.
Biden has been involved in politics since before man went to the moon.
He was a Senator before the 1973 oil embargo and the Yom Kippur war.
He sponsored the Violence Against Women Act, created the Brady Bill (which made it harder to purchase firearms), created the largest support package for climate change in history ($369 billion) and always advocated for bipartisanship – a rarity in modern politics on both sides of the Atlantic.
But today will be his lasting legacy.
Displaying the behaviour and decision making approaches that have become normalised in today’s political culture will mean that 55-years of public service will be erased.
That is the influence of culture.
It’s how we do things around here.
It’s what subtly informs our risk appetite, behaviour, language, and decisions.
For better or for worse.
