“Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit”. So said heavyweight champion Joe Louis.

Applied to the workplace it would probably say “no plan survives first contact with the culture.”

As successive generations of academics, leaders and a steady stream of corporate scandals can attest ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’.

If culture can shape, enable or disable any strategy, why do we continue to see culture as the poor cousin of strategy? At best, culture may be a pillar of strategy. More likely an obligatory reference that we sign-off on.

In exponential changing times the future can only be shaped, not determined. Yet we cling to a belief that a perfect strategy assures success.

Worse, we assume when our great strategy hits the road that it will be accepted as great and owned by everyone. They will enthusiastically throw themselves behind it and committed to be agile and ensure its successful execution.

Failing to plan for culture is like planning for your strategy to fail.

Proud to have spent the last two weeks in Fiji and Launceston with Fiji Water and TasWater. It was inspiring to see each Sign-on to the Blue Bus to drive their strategy.

Which Bus are you driving today?