246. Party at the DMV: When Meta-Culture Shapes Workplace Culture

At The Table with Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni

Pat, Business, Success, Work, Entrepreneurship, Companyculture, Patricklencioni, Teamwork, Leadership, Organizationalhealth, Culture, Management

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How does the broader culture of your location influence your organization’s internal culture?

In episode 246 of At The Table, Patrick Lencioni and Cody Thompson explore how meta-culture—the broader geographic or societal environment—shapes the internal culture of organizations. From experiences at the DMV to moving company headquarters, they share insights on how values interact with location.

Topics explored in this episode:

(2:44) Organizational Culture Exists Within a Larger Culture

* The macro culture of a city or state can either support or resist company values.

* Remote work and multiple locations complicate maintaining a cohesive culture.

(6:15) Moving Your Company

* Leaders should consider not just financials but cultural fit when moving.

* The meta-culture can affect hiring, operations, and team morale.

* Certain locations make it easier to find people who reflect your values.

* Some environments create cultural friction, while others foster cohesion.

(9:35) Navigating Meta-Culture

* Leaders should actively ask how geography is influencing their organization.

This episode of At The Table with Patrick Lencioni is brought to you by The Table Group: https://www.tablegroup.com. We teach leaders how to make work more effective and less dysfunctional. We also help their employees be more fulfilled and less miserable.

At The Table is a podcast that lives at the connection between work life, leadership, organizational health, and culture. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4hJKKSL), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4l1aop0), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/At-The-Table-YouTube).

Follow Pat Lencioni on https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth and http://www.youtube.com/@PatrickLencioniOfficial.

Connect with Cody Thompson https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-thompson-a5918850.

Be sure to check out our other podcast, The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni, on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4iNz6Yn), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4iGGm8u), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/Working-Genius-YouTube).

Let us know your feedback via [email protected].

This episode was produced by Story On Media: https://www.storyon.co.

Transcript

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0:00.0	But if you're like, now we have to build a big customer service organization or people that are
0:06.3	operating in a certain way, you might say it might be harder. Every geography, it could be every town,
0:11.8	every state. They really are different.
0:18.9	Welcome to At the Table, the podcast that lives at the intersection of culture, teamwork, leadership, and organizational health.
0:25.5	I'm your host, Pat Linchony, joined by Cody Thompson.
0:29.1	How are you doing today? Cody?
0:30.4	Doing great, Pat.
0:32.0	We have a very liberal arts brain candy conversation, but I think it's really interesting to talk about today.
0:39.2	What's the topic? It's called Party at the DMV. Right, which is really that's, it's hard to know what that
0:46.2	means. What we're going to talk about today is the meta culture around a company. You know,
0:52.0	years ago, well, the DMV part comes in this way.
0:55.1	I just moved to Tennessee.
0:56.4	And my wife and I go there to get our license and everything else.
0:59.7	And they're actually friendly.
1:01.7	And we're like, how is that?
1:04.1	Wait, wait, wait, what's going on here?
1:06.8	And it reminded me that every organization of any kind sits within the culture around it.
1:15.5	So it kind of makes sense that the DMV in Tennessee reflects Tennessee culture.
1:21.5	And so even here people say, well, they're not as friendly at the DMV as they are at these other places.
1:26.2	But we're like, well, Tennessee is just friendlier in general, so people are expected to be pretty nice.
1:32.3	Whereas I know that the DMV in New York City, because I know somebody who just moved from there,
1:35.9	and at other places where I've lived, there's no expectation.
	...

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