The New Analytics of Culture

Culture is easy to sense but hard to measure. The workhorses of culture research—employee surveys and questionnaires—are often unreliable. Studying the language that employees use in electronic communication has opened a new window into organizational culture. New research analyzing email, Slack messages, and Glassdoor postings are challenging prevailing wisdom about culture. Some of the findings: • Cultural fit is important, but what predicts success most is the rate at which employees adapt as organizational culture changes over time. • Cognitive diversity helps teams during ideation but hinders execution. • The best cultures encourage diversity to drive innovation but are anchored by shared core beliefs.