People like us (part 1)

“People like us do things like this.”

That’s culture.

Not what’s written. Not what’s announced. But what gets repeated.

People learn culture by watching what works.

What gets praised in meetings. What gets promoted. What gets funded. What gets copied.

If you say you value innovation, people don’t listen to the word. They watch what happens to the last person who took a risk.

Did the idea get airtime? Did it get resources? Did the person get backed—even when it didn’t work?

Or did everything quietly return to normal?

That answer teaches faster than any slogan.

The same mechanism works in reverse.

People also notice what keeps happening without consequence. The shortcut that delivers results. The behavior everyone sees and no one names.

Reward and tolerance aren’t opposites. They work together.

Culture forms where repetition meets reinforcement.

If you want a different culture, don’t start with language. Start with patterns.

What behavior will be repeated here? What behavior will quietly stop working?

Because “people like us” are already paying attention.

And they’re learning exactly how this place really works.