Culture isn’t what you say—it’s what you tolerate, reward, and repeat.
You don’t build a culture with slogans. You build it with standards—and the consistency to enforce them. Every compromise lowers the bar. Every act of courage raises it. Over time, those choices shape not just your environment, but your legacy.
Are we building a culture that raises the standard—or one that quietly lowers it?
Great businesses outlive great products because they’re built on something deeper than a market win. They’re built on values that don’t shift with the season. A culture you can count on isn’t always the easiest to build—but it’s the only one worth following.
Your people are watching. They’re learning what’s acceptable by what gets overlooked. They’re deciding how high to aim based on how often you raise the bar. And when things go wrong, they’ll look to the top—because that’s where the real bottlenecks begin.
Culture doesn’t drift. It either climbs or collapses. Lead like it matters—because it does.
Chapter 9, Culture You Can Count On, features the following 3 fundamental Rules:
- WEEK 36— Rule No. 34: Great businesses outlive great products.
- WEEK 37— Rule No. 35: Raise the bar, then raise it again.
- WEEK 38— Rule No. 46: Don’t outgrow your values.
WEEK 36
Rule No. 34: Great businesses outlive great products.
Why: Because, culture and purpose are the moat.
Rule No. 34 SUMMARY 
Legendary companies don’t hinge their future on any single product, service, or trend. They endure because they’re built on purpose, values, and systems that outlast market shifts and category obsolescence. While competitors chase what’s hot, enduring businesses invest in what’s timeless: culture, continuity, and core ideology. In other words—your best product should never be your identity. It’s just a chapter, not the whole story.
Ask Yourself: Am I building a business that can survive the loss of today’s best product—or am I building a product that can survive only while it’s hot?
WEEK 36 Action Step: Review your current product lineup and map each offering to the company’s core purpose and long-term strategy. Identify any product that could disappear tomorrow without threatening the business—and any that could take down the company if it failed. Develop one actionable change to strengthen systems, culture, or processes so the business can thrive independent of any single product.
WEEK 36 RECOMMENDED READING:Â Built to Last by Jim Collins
“Enduring great companies preserve their core values and purpose while their business strategies and operating practices endlessly adapt to a changing world.”
— Jim Collins, Built to Last
WEEK 37
Rule No. 35: Raise the bar, then raise it again.
Why: Because, complacency is the enemy.
Rule No. 35 SUMMARY
Great companies don’t settle. They refuse to be lulled by early wins or fooled by temporary success. They build a culture where good isn’t good enough — and even great becomes the new baseline to surpass. This rule reminds leaders that the bar is never fixed. Raise it, reach it, and then raise it again. Because in enduring businesses, the pursuit of better never ends.
Ask Yourself: What part of my business or team am I tolerating as merely good, when it could be great — and what concrete step can I take this week to raise the bar?
WEEK 37 Action Step: Identify one area of your business where “good” has become acceptable. Then, define a measurable way to raise the standard this week. Assign ownership, set a clear metric, and schedule a check-in to ensure it moves beyond talk into action.
This is SUCH an important Rule, that we’re doubling down on studies this week!
- Action Step #2: Pick one key process, product, or team metric that has plateaued. This week, push it beyond its current best — set a bold target, and make someone accountable.
Ask Yourself: Where am I settling for what’s working instead of demanding what’s exceptional? - Action Step #3: Hold a 15-minute team huddle to identify one area where “good enough” is creeping in. Define a clear improvement goal that raises the standard immediately.
Ask Yourself: If a competitor started tomorrow, what part of our business would they outclass first? - Action Step #4: Review last quarter’s results and highlight one achievement that felt like a win. Ask, “Can we do better?” Then implement one concrete improvement this week.
Ask Yourself: Am I celebrating success or masking mediocrity?
WEEK 37 RECOMMENDED READING:Â Good to Great by Jim Collins
“Good is the enemy of great.”
— Jim Collins, Good to Great
WEEK 38
Rule No. 46: Don’t outgrow your values.
Why: Because, your values keep you anchored in growth.
Rule No. 46 SUMMARY
Growth is good. Scale is exciting. But when an organization gets bigger, faster, or more successful, the first casualty is often its core values. What was once instinctive becomes negotiable. This rule is your reminder that values aren’t a phase — they’re your foundation. Ignore them at your peril.
Ask Yourself: Where in the last seven days did I bend our values—and what will I do to correct it?
WEEK 38 Action Step: Review one recent decision or initiative from the past week. Ask: Did this action align with our core values, or did we compromise for convenience, speed, or growth? Document your findings and discuss them with your leadership team. Identify at least one concrete step to reinforce your values in the coming week.
WEEK 38 RECOMMENDED READING:Â The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
“Companies don’t fail because they grow. They fail because they forget who they were before they grew.”
— Patrick Lencioni, The Advantage
Congratulations! You’ve just sharpened your understanding of what culture really is: not a perk, not a poster, but a pattern. A culture you can count on is built one tough call at a time—by leaders willing to hold the line when it would be easier to let it slide. You’ve chosen to raise the bar. Now your people will follow.
But culture is only as strong as the person leading it.
Up Next: Chapter 10 — Leadership That Lasts
The leader grows or the business stalls. There is no neutral.
You don’t scale a company without scaling yourself. In the next chapter, we turn the mirror on the one resource you can’t get back—your time—and the personal disciplines that separate leaders who burn out from those who build something that lasts. VISIT CHAPTER 10