Every human being is an unconscious cultural anthropologist. New employees learn the most about your culture through daily observation. They hear stories. They watch other people work. Every single day, they learn more about what gets celebrated and rewarded, what gets punished, and what gets ignored. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how people really learn the most about your culture. It is not at all helpful to new employees to mislead them about what your culture really is. It does not work. You cannot fool a good anthropologist.

The stories people tell say a lot about an organization's culture. Stories stick. The backbone of history and culture, stories have been the vehicle for sharing information and transmitting values for millennia. What are the stories that get told and retold in your organization? They are the foundation for your organization's folklore. How can you leverage the power of stories to shape your organization's culture? Continually look for new stories, repeat old ones, and create platforms for telling and retelling the stories that exemplify and empower your organization's culture. Consider these examples:

These stories say to employees, “This is who we are.” When Larry worked for The Ritz-Carlton, almost everyone knew these stories. They were part of the company folklore. In a culture in which employees were encouraged to go outside their narrow job descriptions to fulfill even “the unexpressed wishes” (quotation from The Ritz-Carlton credo) of the guests, these stories brought that expectation to life. How much more powerful and inspiring are these stories compared to just saying, “We expect you to go the extra mile?” These moving stories tap into people's emotions, vividly communicate the organization's values and expectations, and specify exactly how those values can look in day-to-day work.