We see similar patterns on all eight of the questions—we see, in other words, that when we zero in on the critical aspects of our experience at work, they vary more team-to-team than they do company-to-company. Any ideas—like the idea of culture—that rest on the assumption that our experience of a company is uniform, no matter where we sit, don’t hold up. Any ideas—again, like the idea of culture—that rest on the assumption that our experience will vary company to company are incomplete, because our experience will vary more within a company than between companies.

When Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google, he said, “We run the company by questions, not by answers.” Their Friday afternoon company wide meetings were famous for the wise questions that were posed from line-level employees to leadership.

In addition to seeking culture t, it is critical to hire people who can deliver on the Brand Promises and activities underpinning your strategy…

On the process side, do your people have the appropriate tools and resources they need to get the job accomplished? Are there lame policies and procedures frustrating your team?

However, it’s HOW you deliver on your promises where differentiation occurs.