Tools · Living the Values Check

Capture the culture people experience.

Ask what defines the culture, compare the answers with the values you say you live by, and agree what to preserve and what to change.

Why

A regular check on the culture you actually have.

Strong cultures run a culture capture for the same reason people have a yearly physical examination. It provides a big-picture check-in, shows where the culture stands and helps surface early signs of trouble.

The purpose is to create an ongoing conversation about how well the group is living up to its values. The findings may confirm what should be protected. They may also show that parts of the existing culture need to change.

Based on Daniel Coyle's The Culture Playbook.

The process

Survey, assess and act.

Use the same questions each time. The comparison over time matters as much as the first capture.

A

Survey everyone in the group.

Ask for open answers. Invite examples and stories, and keep responses anonymous where the size of the group allows it.

What is your top reason for working here?
Describe our culture in three words.
What is so central and fundamental to our culture that we should never change it?
How are we different from the competition?
What separates us?
What are the non-negotiables in our culture?
What will we not stand for?
Briefly share a story about something that happened in this organisation that would not happen anywhere else.
Name one thing you would change about our culture.
What important issue has not been covered in this survey, but matters to understanding our culture and where we are headed?
B

Assess and discuss what the answers reveal.

Sort the evidence against the group's stated values, share the full picture and use it to structure the conversation.

A

Build the matrix

List the group's core values across the top. Add each answer to the value it most closely relates to, either as evidence that supports the value or as evidence that challenges it.

B

Share the findings

Return the completed matrix to the group with a short memo that summarises the strongest patterns, contradictions and gaps.

C

Discuss the implications

Use the matrix to identify where the culture is strong, where it is weak, which tensions deserve attention and what may need to change.

EvidenceCore value 1Core value 2Core value 3
Supports the valueAdd answers and storiesAdd answers and storiesAdd answers and stories
Challenges the valueAdd answers and storiesAdd answers and storiesAdd answers and stories
Where are we strong?
Where are we weak?
Which tensions must we embrace?
What should we consider changing?
C

Agree actions, commit and follow up.

Turn the discussion into a small number of clear commitments and decide when the group will review progress and repeat the survey.

Record the commitments

  • What will we protect or strengthen?
  • What behaviour or practice will we change?
  • Who will take responsibility for each action?
  • When will we review progress?

Keep the conversation alive

Follow through on the agreed actions, revisit the findings and repeat the same survey. Over time, the culture capture shows whether daily experience is moving closer to the values the group has chosen.

Use the check

Run the capture with your team or organisation.

The page provides the survey questions and discussion structure. For an anonymous organisation-wide capture, use a survey platform that protects respondents and allows the answers to be grouped for analysis.

Invite a colleague

Get started

Make your values visible in everyday work.

Discuss how to run a culture capture with your team or organisation and turn the findings into practical commitments.

Discuss a culture capture with us