Culture Is...

The tweet above links to an interesting profile the NY Times did on Tae Hea Nahm, managing director of VC firm, Storm Ventures.  Here's his direct quote:  "Culture, to me, is about getting people to make the right decision without being told what to do. No matter what people say about culture, it’s all tied to who gets promoted, who gets raises and who gets fired. You can have your stated culture, but the real culture is defined by compensation, promotions and terminations. Basically, people seeing who succeeds and fails in the company defines culture. The people who succeed become role models for what’s valued in the organization, and that defines culture." 

I'm a strong believer in having each organization define its unique culture based upon a foundation of its values and its context.   In this situation, he is not defining a specific culture.  Rather, he is generalizing his opinion on how culture should be defined. IMHO, compensation, promotions and terminations reflect culture, rather than dictate it.  How culture is created is, at its very core, through its people.