A thought about " Culture "

[xray]

What exactly is this magical state of mind , called ' culture ', that PC supposedly indoctrinated into the Hawks ? I call " hocus pocus " on that . Here's a real culture that I can understand and makes sense . In the words of Al Davis..." Just win baby ". This works too...Larry the Cable Guy... " Git-R-Done " . No frills , no zen , no BS .

 

[CouchLogic]

So, you've been under a rock for the last decade and a half?

Pete over Al Davis everytime btw.

 

[fenderbender123]

Damn I missed this when I posted something similar in another thread a few minutes ago.

I completely agree.

Can somebody explain in detail what this "culture" is exactly? A culture of what? It's a damn football team full of tons of players, coaches, trainers, doctors, nutritionists, assistants, executives, etc.

 

[Mase]

- Culture is not hocus pocus. It is a long term commitment to environment and treatment of employees. Why do so many guys speak so highly of Pete, even though he traded some of them, let some of them walk, probably had contentious negotiations with many of them. Because that is the busy side of it. But if your "culture" is strong enough, players know they will be respected and treated fairly on a day to day basis. If you have never coached or managed people it is hard to explain.
- I coached youth sports for years and I manage work crews now. Some of my guys have hard, dirty jobs. The pay is average, and yet our turnover is minimal. Why? Because they trust us as leaders. The job needs to be done but they know we will try to be as fair, and equitable as we can, and allow them to be people and not robots.
- Whether star football player or ditch digger, people want to know that those above them, have a core belief in their value as employees, and will work to create the best environment for both.

Mase

 

[JayhawkMike]

2023 culture does not equal 2013 culture. Loyalty over Performance is what it morphed into Instead of always competing.

 

[fenderbender123]

The best way to treat football players and have good vibes throughout the organization is to put together a winning team.

 

[nanomoz]

To oversimplify, there's a couple of decades of data that shows that happy employees are better employees. Studies about this have been conducted by Oxford University, Harvard University, and the Karolinska Institute, to name a few. Happy employees are 10-20% more productive, and workforce turnover is often cut by more than 50%. There's a bunch of other positive outcomes, too.

It's not happenstance that the NFLPA maintains player-input report cards on franchises.

 

[morgulon1]

Damn I missed this when I posted something similar in another thread a few minutes ago.

I completely agree.

Can somebody explain in detail what this "culture" is exactly? A culture of what? It's a damn football team full of tons of players, coaches, trainers, doctors, nutritionists, assistants, executives, etc.

I would think it would refer to the company as a whole . The environment.
I've been in employment situations where I could site culture as a strong indicator whether people stayed and more importantly thrived.
I'm sure some sports teams have horrible culture .

 

[scutterhawk]

2023 culture does not equal 2013 culture. Loyalty over Performance is what it morphed into Instead of always competing.

Nope, Loyalty was given to those who performed/gave their best.
What was meant when Pete said "Always Compete" was constantly being in competition with >ONES-SELF<
2013 culture & 2023 culture were "One and the Same".

 

[Ozzy]

I think its overstated because the pro Pete crowd has a tough time selling Pete as an X&O's guy. When you're arguing with everyone that it was wrong to move on from him you need a reason that is tough to argue against. I don't think that's all of it because Pete did build an environment where people felt comfortable and generally enjoyed being a part of which does have value but like I said in another thread I think its severely overstated in regards to Seattle/Pete. This post seems snarky but its not meant to be.

 

[scutterhawk]

- Culture is not hocus pocus. It is a long term commitment to environment and treatment of employees. Why do so many guys speak so highly of Pete, even though he traded some of them, let some of them walk, probably had contentious negotiations with many of them. Because that is the busy side of it. But if your "culture" is strong enough, players know they will be respected and treated fairly on a day to day basis. If you have never coached or managed people it is hard to explain.
- I coached youth sports for years and I manage work crews now. Some of my guys have hard, dirty jobs. The pay is average, and yet our turnover is minimal. Why? Because they trust us as leaders. The job needs to be done but they know we will try to be as fair, and equitable as we can, and allow them to be people and not robots.
- Whether star football player or ditch digger, people want to know that those above them, have a core belief in their value as employees, and will work to create the best environment for both.

Mase

When I worked as a Push (foreman) I always thanked my crew for making me shine, even if they weren't always knocking it out of the park, with my encouragement I KNEW that they were always going to give me their BEST.
And even though some of the jobs were hard & dirty as hell, I had a LOT of them tell me that they thoroughly enjoyed working for me, why? because I would get down in the grime with them to lay out the work that needed to be performed.
LOYALTY? It's a matter of mutual respect.

 

[fenderbender123]

Nope, Loyalty was given to those who performed/gave their best.
What was meant when Pete said "Always Compete" was constantly being in competition with >ONES-SELF<
2013 culture & 2023 culture were "One and the Same".

It seemed to me like they stayed loyal to those who stopped competing with themselves, though.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It seemed to me like they stayed loyal to those who stopped competing with themselves, though.

I certainly felt this way over the past couple of years. No one can say Pete wasn't wearing blinders when it came to being too loyal to guys like Adams, and even Russ to an extent.

Which created the resentment within the locker room that's been famously documents and re-told over the past decade.

Having said this, culture does matter........and Pete WAS a great culture builder. All that means to me is someone who creates the best environment to foster success. From the staff, coaches, philosophy of handling problems, even down to the minutia of organizational details.

 

[Wheetie]

- Culture is not hocus pocus. It is a long term commitment to environment and treatment of employees. Why do so many guys speak so highly of Pete, even though he traded some of them, let some of them walk, probably had contentious negotiations with many of them. Because that is the busy side of it. But if your "culture" is strong enough, players know they will be respected and treated fairly on a day to day basis. If you have never coached or managed people it is hard to explain.
- I coached youth sports for years and I manage work crews now. Some of my guys have hard, dirty jobs. The pay is average, and yet our turnover is minimal. Why? Because they trust us as leaders. The job needs to be done but they know we will try to be as fair, and equitable as we can, and allow them to be people and not robots.
- Whether star football player or ditch digger, people want to know that those above them, have a core belief in their value as employees, and will work to create the best environment for both.

Mase

Just curious, if they were paid multi millions of dollars to do the job you speak of, would they still need all the other stuff you allude to? Maybe the environment won't always be conducive to puppies and rainbows, but there's an expectation that comes with these enormous athletes salaries to perform in whatever kind of atmosphere they're placed in. That's why I think "culture" is overplayed. When you're given that kind of money and a stage like the NFL to play on, I say do your damn job or next man up. All culture does is allow for the big egos to be stroked at the expense of making the absolute best decision for the team. Just my opinion.

Until a team surpasses the Patriots success of the past 2 decades, then maybe I'll soften on my position. Their motto during the BB era?, "Do your job". Sure that can be a cultural structure as well, but I would put forth that their culture was quite different than the "culture" people are alluding to throughout these forums.

 

[JayhawkMike]

The loyalty over performance factor began with a few overpaid overextended 3rd down running backs.

 

[Mick063]

This is the thread where you can easily identify career professionals. It separates the wheat from the chafe. People that manage large budgets, complex division of labor, and institutions with many moving parts, could easily give you a standing 30-minute note-free seminar on the topic. To ask what culture is? That is an extremely revealing question to ask. It reveals a great deal about the person asking it. Of course, it would be a great opening statement for the person giving the fore mentioned seminar. Primarily because they are subject matter experts on culture.

The question isn't a serious one. We live in the information age. The question being asked can easily be answered with the click of a mouse. Hence, one can conclude that the question isn't being asked from a perspective of ignorance but is instead being asked from a perspective of dissent. Of defiance. Therefore, any person that answers should be prepared for an antagonist mindset in response. Preconceived opposition to Jody Allen's mission statement is the agenda here. Just giving fair warning. A warning that perceptive people don't really need. You can intuitively feel the dissent coming. The agenda isn't hard to figure out. Completely eradicate Pete Carroll and his lingering aura from Seahawk history is the apparent goal.

What is inexplicably puzzling to me is that an "I could do it better, follow my advice instead" mind set can actually not know what culture is. Talk about a precarious position. "I know just enough about electricity to be dangerous" is the vibe I'm getting.

 

[Seahawker]

Your culture when you can't tackle, stop the run or force a punt...

 

[KinesProf]

A culture of winning. Sure, you're not going to win every year, as it is a tough league; but I truly feel that some organizations have winner dna, where more often than not they are in the playoffs and have a winning record, and occasionally they'll break through and win the big one. Steelers, Seahawks, Ravens, Packers, the Patriots with Brady, Chiefs under Reid, McVay's Rams.

Inversely, some organizations are "loser" organizations, and it doesn't matter how high they draft or who they draft they've got that loser dna in them that generally starts at the top.

Specifically under Pete the culture was player development, player empowerment, and creating a culture where guys become the best versions of themselves. Guys who had already been in the league like Marshawn, Breno, Bennett, Browner, Diggs, DJ Reed, Nwosu becoming the best version of themselves while in Seattle. Guys being developed and given fair opportunities to outperform their draft position like Kam, Sherm, Sweezy, Malcolm Smith, Baldwin, Maxwell, Woolen, Carson, Lockett, Kearse, KJ.

To me, that's the culture. Cultivating a place where guys want to come to work, and if they put in the work they will become the very best versions of themselves, if not exceed what they previously thought they could.

 

[Jville]

What exactly is this magical state of mind , called ' culture ', that PC supposedly indoctrinated into the Hawks ? I call " hocus pocus " on that . Here's a real culture that I can understand and makes sense . In the words of Al Davis..." Just win baby ". This works too...Larry the Cable Guy... " Git-R-Done " . No frills , no zen , no BS .

Post confuses cliches with culture.

Our posts can reveal a lot about us. It's stunning that after 14 years there remain those with no clue as to the meaning of culture.

Learning how to learn about culture is not a birth right or entitlement. It requires a life time of dedicated work.

 

[fenderbender123]

Culture:

"Maintain (tissue cells, bacteria, etc) in conditions suitable for growth"