I’m learning more every day about including this word in both my vernacular and my mind. All-or-nothing thinking is tempting (and very much a part of our society) but at its tamest, it isn’t realistic, at its most detrimental it can be downright paralyzing.
I’ve been thinking a lot about AND as it relates to company culture lately. As you might know by now from a variety of my other blogs on the topic, I’m a strong believer that taking care of people is paramount to a great culture. Happier, healthier humans produce better work, period.
However, I’ve recently been leaning into the AND in culture and learning that caring for your people simply isn’t enough. There has to be another reason they love coming to work every day. According to the Harvard Business Review, this second reason can vary greatly between companies, but most healthy cultures have an AND.
Care for people + innovation
Care for people + learning
Care for people + safety
Etc.
People need more than flexibility and care to get excited to hop out of bed and get to work. It’s the power of the AND and one we need to work on finding, maintaining and reassessing often.