Is There A Dark Side To Supposedly “Good” Corporate Cultures?

Why yes, there can be — and not always for the reasons you think.

Corporate culture has been a major business topic over the past few years, although it’s probably for different reasons than you think. Now, however, we might have arrived at a tipping point here — one of the most popular articles on Fast Company right now, for example, is entitled “Two Big Reasons Why Work Culture Is Overrated.” There’s a couple of similar articles around these days, one of which I’ll link below. First, though, I think we need to understand a little bit more about what “corporate culture” really means.

Corporate culture is, essentially, a buzzword

I very much believe in ideas about corporate culture. If you’ve ever read this blog even once, you’d know and understand that. But the term itself is a buzzword, and here’s why.

First off, corporate culture is like the Supreme Court’s famous old pornography definition: “You know it when you see it.”

You can’t explain it to others and push it hardcore in a job interview. You get a job, you work there, you interact with people, and you see the culture. Corporate culture evolves relative to hiring decisions the company makes, market conditions…