• Excellence of taste in fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
• An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
• The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group

Once you have read the entire book, I recommend coming back to this page and re-reading these definitions. They are far more applicable than you can imagine.

Culture itself can be seen as a process starting from the basic human desire to create, which is expressed by the symbols or language we use to communicate, and finally by the tools that actively and consciously reflect it. Culture (like in a biology lab culture) is simply an environment to grow something. For the purpose of moving forward, let’s create a very simple definition that will keep us focused on why we are discussing this in the first place.

THE SIMPLE IDEA BEHIND CULTURE

Try on this definition:

Culture is a feeling.

That’s all it is. When you strip away all the language, interactions, and signs, you are simply left with a feeling, one that’s created by the people you are with. Yes, it takes conversation to articulate it, but what you’re left with is a feeling.

The easiest way to get in touch with that feeling is to have a stranger come into an organization’s culture and interact for a day, asking questions and observing. That person will be able to descr