Culture is a Verb: Learn what it means, why it matters, and how you can create transformations like Satya Nadella.
Early in his tenure as CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella made one of his most enduring declarations. In his book Hit Refresh he wrote, "I like to think that the C in CEO stands for culture. The CEO is the curator of an organization’s culture. Anything is possible for a company when its culture is about listening, learning, and harnessing individual passions and talents to the company’s mission."
At the time, it may have raised eyebrows. Culture? That sounded soft—almost off-topic—for the tech behemoth known as much for its internal competition as its products.
But Satya knew better. He understood something too many leaders still miss: your culture is your innovation infrastructure. It doesn’t matter what your strategy says if your culture can’t support it. If risk is punished, learning is performative, or success is narrowly defined, even your best ideas won’t survive first contact with the org chart.
That’s why at modern-day Microsoft we say Culture is a Verb.
