Culture Clash

I have always been fascinated by what makes people, and cultures, tick. I want to know what matters to both the individual and the community they spend their time in. This could be their personal community or their work community. What creates sustainable, healthy, momentum?

Bear with me as I explore two, seemingly, opposite stories that I believe have a connection.

The first story began in 2008 when Dan Beuttner published a book called “The Blue Zones”. He was part of a partnership between National Geographic and MIT Age Labs where they discovered five zones around the world where people lived naturally, and healthily, to over 100. They looked for the common denominators that allowed people to thrive. The five zones included Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica (and by now you may be saying to yourself … OK, small rural communities …) and Loma Linda, CA (outside LA). The common denominators across those regions that allowed longevity and healthy living included some of what you would imagine – diet, amount of food intake, amount of alcohol intake, a life that included a lot of natural physical activity, and a belief in something greater. It also included embracing a sense of purpose in their lives, having some form of daily stress release, co-generational family structures, and supportive networks and lifelong friendships.

I want to tie these to our work world today. Gallup just released their poll on 2025 employee engagement. While overall it remained at 31% (the same as last year) it was down from 36% in 2020, and this year it dipped again for the younger generations. “The declines since 2020 equate to about 8 million fewer engaged employees over five years, with 3.2 million fewer engaged workers compared to 2023 alone ... The percentage of Generation Z and younger millennials who are engaged at work dropped by eight points, while older millennials (born 1980 to 1988) dropped by nine points. Generation X declined in engagement by six points” (Gallup). The top categories that declined included: my supervisor cares for me as a person, I have opportunities to learn and grow, I know what is expected of me, there is someone at work who encourages my development, and I feel like my job is important. This is having a real impact on businesses, financially. Also, from Gallup they noted 62% of employees are quiet quitting, and 17% are loud quitting and actively sabotaging their company. The financial impact to an organization is deep and the recovery from this state of culture is long.

Perhaps we can take a lesson from communities that work and have worked for many decades, as proven out in the Blue Zones. Our workforce needs nutrition in the form of being fed clear direction, explanations of how their work contributes, and make sure they know the expectations (provide them a north star and sense of purpose),  they need daily exercise (are they actively engaging with others, encouraged to be curious, testing their mental muscles, and being exposed to new topical terrain), and encourage them through thoughtful connections and networks (blend experiences, generational insights, and a tribe to belong to that is broader than their immediate team). By providing some structure, these steps actually don’t require that much of a lift. It is taking a few moments a day to explain one concept, encourage a question, provide one resource, and introduce two people. Make sure to explain and model what your intent is and make sure to follow up within a few days on what you put in motion. It will take some time to catch hold, but nothing like the time it takes to recoup financial loss and disengagement.

Connected