Schneider defines culture as ‘how we do things around here to succeed’ and his grid has two axes: 

• The horizontal axis is about whether the organization has a personal, people-oriented culture or an impersonal, company-oriented culture; and  

• The vertical axis is about an actuality, reality-oriented culture or a future, possibility-oriented culture. 

Then, within these four quadrants, distinct organizational cultures are defined: 

• The collaboration culture is at the core of agile – an organization succeeds by everything and everybody working together. This is high people and high-reality oriented so negative behavior and self-interest don’t feature. Words that help define what this culture is about are trust, partnership and affiliation; 

• The control culture is where an organization succeeds by getting and keeping control. It’s high on reality and company-orientation and is all about following rules and working in a hierarchical structure – there’s no room for emotions or subjectivity. Words that define this culture include power, predictability, stability and security; 

• The competence culture is about being number 1 – an organization succeeds by being the best which means having the best product, service, process or technology in the marketplace. It’s high on company and possibility-orientation and can be signified by meritocracy, craftsmanship, expertise and professionalism; 

• Finally, a cultivation culture is where an organization succeeds by growing people who fulfil the vision and is high people and possibility-orientation. Words that help define this culture are grow, faith, purpose and dedication. Like the competence culture, this culture also focuses on creativity. 

Looking at the picture like this shows the relationships between the cultures. For example, a control culture is more compatible with a collaboration or competence culture than with a cultivation culture. In fact, a cultivation culture is the opposite of a control culture – learning and growing is the opposite of security and structure. Similarly, collaboration is the opposite of competence. It’s definitely not a case of ‘opposites attract’. 

But it’s important to note that no culture type is considered better than any other – each has strengths and weaknesses depending on the context the organization is operating in and the type of work that’s being done. Organizations will typically have a dominant culture with aspects from other cultures and, this is OK, as long as those aspects work with the dominant culture. However, different departments or groups may have different cultures; which can often lead to conflict across the organization. 

• Stimulates team members to hold themselves and others accountable; 

• Appreciates everyone for their unique talents and skills; 

• Values behaviour over achievements; 

• Invites and inspires employees to get the most out of themselves; 

• Thrives on self-discipline where trust and ownership are given to employees; 

• Values team success over individual success; 

• Supports stable team composition over a longer period to increase performance; 

• Delivers business value by small, co-located, cross-functional and self-organising teams;  

• Helps employees succeed by giving support, trust and guidance; 

• Promotes continuous improvement and experimentation; 

• Puts the customer at the centre of its operations; 

• Values products instead of projects;  

• Replaces temporary, comprehensive documentation with face-to-face communication; and 

• Considers the act of planning more useful than the actual plan.