ConceptsNest

Everyone wants to improve their company culture . Culture has become the ultimate buzzword these days. Leaders also seem to talk about it all the time . Let’s look past the buzz and grasp the roots of organizational culture. If we want to influence our company culture, we have to start with a keen understanding of what culture actually is. What Is Company Culture? Culture is the thing we cannot necessarily touch and feel — it is the invisible binds and unspoken rules that enforce “how people do things around here.” However, this definition can be insufficient at times. “The way we do things” feels awfully vague and amorphous, especially when it comes to thinking about how to intentionally create a company culture we’re proud of. As a result, our attempts to influence culture get muddled . We conflate culture with surface-level relics, confusing culture with “Things To Make People Feel Good.” - ping pong tables, happy hours and free lunches. Sure, those are part of “the ...

***Continued from Chapter 01 (Covered previously: Meaning, Characterestics, Apparance and Manifestation) Link to Chapter -01 Root Causes — And Potential Solutions  Regardless of how or why people may feel like an impostor occasionally, this syndrome is all about the stories that we tell ourselves . We step out with an idea, then when someone says “no,” we retreat and the cycle repeats. The stories may not be true anymore, but they become a habit.  It may happen in school and then in meetings at work. Our ideas get shut down as someone says, “I’ve been here 11 years and that won’t work.” We develop complex coping mechanisms around these stories and deepen the groove in our brain of the thoughts and behaviours, making it very difficult to break the mental connections we’ve made – or to step into our brilliance, whatever it may be. Measuring Impostor Syndrome The first scale designated to measure characteristics of impostor syndrome phenomenon came in 1985, called the Cla...

What Is Impostor Syndrome? Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostor-ism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". Impostor syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that we are not as competent as others perceive us to be . While this definition is usually narrowly applied to intelligence and achievement, it has links to perfectionism and the social context . To put it simply, impostor syndrome is the experience of feeling like a phony —we feel as though at any moment we are going to be found out as a fraud—like we do not belong where we are, and we only got there through dumb luck. It can affect anyone no matter their social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise. Impostor syndrome is different from the standard “fak...

  Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. The same philosophy applies in other areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.This is not to say we should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say yes to many things we do not actually want to do . There are many meetings held that do not need to be held. How often do people ask you to do something and you just reply, “Yes, OK.” Three days later, you are overwhelmed by how much is on your to-do list. We become frustrated by our obligations even though we were the ones who said yes to them in the first place. It is worth asking if things are necessary. Many of them are not, and a simple “no” will be more productive than whatever work the most efficient person can muster. But if the benefits of saying no are so obvious, then why do we say yes so often? Why We Say Yes We agree to many requests not because we want to do them, but because we do not wa...

  Navigating Modern Stress—Understanding the 'Fight or Flight' Response Picture this: you are driving when a car suddenly cuts into your lane. Your heart pounds, muscles tense, and you react in a split second to avoid a crash. That is the fight-or-flight response—our brain’s ancient survival system, wired to protect us from immediate threats. While this instinct once served us well, today it can backfire. In a world filled with injustice and constant stress, reacting from the primitive “survive mind” can trigger impulsive, irrational—even dangerous—behaviour. Left unchecked, this survival-driven response can overpower our empathy and fuel actions rooted in fear and division—from hate crimes and violent protests to systemic racism, police brutality, and terrorism. Understanding the 'Survive Mind' and 'Thrive Mind' The 'Survive Mind' The 'Survive Mind' refers to a state dominated by the fight or flight response. In this mode, our reactions are sw...