A Unified Definition of Culture
Last month, I went with my family to the Brazilian Amazon. We took tours in various parts of the jungle, seeing caves and waterfalls, monkeys and pink dolphins, enormous trees and Tarzan vines.
Every day before we set out on an adventure with various guides, I’d ask, “Do we need to bring a swimsuit?”
The response was always the same: “We can add in some swimming time to the tour!”
My intention in the question was to figure out how to pack for the family and what degree of mosquito protection was required. However, it was interpreted as an implicit request to add a swimming stop to our itinerary.
We’ve been thinking a lot about organizational culture here at Elevate Labs, and have come to a definition I really love:
Organizational culture is the set of unwritten rules and shared assumptions that quietly guide how people behave, communicate, and make decisions at work.
But if you remove “organizational” and “at work”, this definition of culture can apply to so many different settings.
In my Brazil example, it was the unwritten rules in American culture—clarify all expectations before starting a project—contrasted with the shared assumption in Brazilian culture—don’t ask explicitly for something but rather imply what you want.
Also at play were some of the unwritten rules of my family: embrace adventurism and risk-taking, but show up prepared. Along with the shared assumption that we’d forget something and it would be my fault for not bringing it.
As humans, we’re consistently navigating multiple streams of culture: from the culture at work, to our country / regional culture, to the specifics of our community, to our individual families. And at the holidays, we’re navigating nearly double that amount with blended families and mixed regions. It can be hard to keep track of all the unwritten rules:
What is the appropriate type of gift for this member of the family, and how will they respond to a gift that’s either too cheap or too expensive?
What conversations are appropriate to have over dinner?
What assumptions will people make about me based on the behavior of my children—and how is that different than the assumptions that my friends and neighbors make from the same behaviors?
What level of humility is expected when talking about my successes and failures of the last year?
What do my boss and colleagues expect of me over the holidays / end of year period?
It’s honestly impossible to keep track of all the rules and assumptions, particularly when many are contradictory and all are open to interpretation. It’s easy to blame ourselves for “messing up” when we fail to meet these unwritten standards. As we move into the end of the year, I’m reminding myself to hold myself and others with grace and compassion, speak out loud the unwritten rules and shared assumptions, and stay grounded in gratitude for the opportunity to float among all the different cultures I’m exposed to.
Wishing all the best for you and yours as we round out 2025!