TAMJ No. 1 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Can we please stop talking about "culture". The term has lost all meaning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck 1972 No. 2 Share Posted March 20, 2022 (edited) I respectfully disagree with your assessment. The word culture means how a system is ran. What are the philosophic ideas that are the basis of the system. What are the goals of the system. How you get players on the same page. Etc. I believe you have to establish your "culture" if you are going to be successful against the competition. The better it is for all the members from top to bottom the better the results. It's especially important when you have a new regime which we have. Go Ducks Fly High Edited March 20, 2022 by Duck 1972 Didn't finish accidentally posted. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/17/2022 at 6:15 AM, TAMJ said: Can we please stop talking about "culture". The term has lost all meaning. I will politely disagree as well; the culture of Mark Helfrich, Mario Cristobal and Dan Lanning are all quite different. And, per-our-rules...everybody is entitled to express their opinion here, and in fact I WANT to see all opinions on all topics. We do not tell others what to discuss or not... 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Ducker1 No. 4 Share Posted March 20, 2022 How about philosophy? --different coaches use different philosophies to try and get desired results for many reasons incl depth, talent, size, speed, experience etc etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanLduck No. 5 Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/17/2022 at 6:15 AM, TAMJ said: Can we please stop talking about "culture". The term has lost all meaning. I kinda agree. I think the word has become some kind of undefinable word to cover a myriad of intentions like work ethic, grit, determination, desire, teamwork, etc. It is easily over used and is such a big part of 'coach speak'. That said, it has its place for those who want to imagine they understand what is implied by its use. What other singular word can be used to cover a multitude of meanings. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 6 Share Posted March 20, 2022 I do think this is a particularly amusing discussion, considering I just finished a five part series of articles on the culture that Dan Lanning is going to bring to Oregon, and how it is different than what we currently have. I believe it is a very relevant discussion, as do the majority that are reading here. 5 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 7 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Multiple times a week I meet with business owners who want our team to establish whatever process is necessary to build a high quality, long term, successful culture. Just like in the responses above each of these owners have different definitions of what culture means to them. TAMJ--some of these highly successful business owners agree with you that the term has lost all meaning. However, TAMJ I respond to them with this question: How did you build such a great company without building and establishing a long term, successful culture?..... At that point, 90% just stare at me without a reply. (The next person who speaks loses so I wait for their reply) These are highly intelligent, hard working men and women. They know how they got to this point...... Eventually they start talking and reveal the steps they took on their road to success. 1Ducker1 asked about philosophy and that is one of the first steps. These people had an idea or product and believed that they had a plan(philosophy) to get it done. Or as Duck 1972 mentioned a philosophic idea and a plan to achieve it. At this point you have an idea, a product or service and a plan to put in motion. Nothing tangible..... You throw in belief, work ethic, trial and error and repetition of what works. You take what you sell to the market place. Your customer base grows, orders increase and now you need employees to fill those orders. You teach your new employees your successful process and procedures and production increases to meet demand. You are now building your culture. McDonalds, Starbucks etc have successful process and procedures. When you come to work for them or walk in the door you know what to expect. Their culture is a given. Let's hope that Coach Lanning can build a successful culture at Oregon. Just like McDonald's and Starbucks. You know the kind that dominates it's competition. In football terms, like Bama, Georgia, tOSU. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith72 Moderator No. 8 Share Posted March 21, 2022 A very good friend of mine worked for one of the three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Oregon. One of his last jobs before semi-retirement was to teach the company's new managers and top level employees the "Culture" of the company. In other words "what to expect" and the "company way" to do things. A very important task! The articles that covered the culture that Dan Lanning is bringing to the Oregon football team leads me to hope for his success. Those articles give me hope and something to look forward to as Spring practices unfold and we get to see the "Lanning Culture" developed and revealed! Go Ducks! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDuck No. 9 Share Posted March 21, 2022 I think it's something my wife uses for the home made yogurt 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittDuck No. 10 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Our culture is simply “how we do things here.” It is important for Dan’s or Dan’ players to buy in, support, and to a large degree, drive the culture. At the end of the day, a team’s culture is what will keep them together or wedge them apart. That is why it is important for the coach to get players to buy in to the culture he or she wants for the team. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Moderator No. 11 Share Posted March 21, 2022 The culture of a team, or business, can elevate production. It also can have the opposite effect. Therefore, culture is, and always will be important to the level of success a team can achieve. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 12 Share Posted March 21, 2022 IMO 'culture' = W's compared to L's. Someone please direct me to a program that recruits well, graduates its players, has a losing record year after year; yet, the program and its coach are lauded for having a great culture? Maybe somewhere in D3? I agree that there may have been a better manner in which to raise this issue, but I also agree that 'culture' is entirely nebulous. You can define culture anyway you like, but if a team's 'culture' does not equate to far more wins than losses. the culture is bogus. P5 CFB coaches are being paid multi-millions of dollars not to teach table manners, but to win games. Mario's 'great team culture' led to no Final 4 appearances, a 1-1 record in NY 6 bowls; one being a one point Rose Bowl win and the other a Fiesta Bowl beat down. The rest of the bowl record: a bowl loss to a MW team, a 1 point win over a mediocre MI ST team and a blow out L vs Oklahoma. Heck of a culture. Two Pac-12 titles. Two titles in a conference that during 'Mario's tenure' had a terrible out-of-conference record and bowl record. You Are what your record says You Are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LADuck No. 13 Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) I agree that culture is overrated. I have worked for the same company for many years and at one point we had a very visible CEO that everybody liked and he had a "culture" that was employee friendly. Sharp person and a good leader. He retired and for the last 5 years we have had a leader that is not nearly as big on connecting with people or having "fun" sales meetings. Some of the longer term associates complain about the lack of the good old days and wish the old leaders were back. I look at the scoreboard and see that we have more than doubled profits under the new CEO. I remind my peers that the object of a business is to make money and we are doing that to a very high degree. If you have good people with experience and a strong work ethic you are going to generally do well no matter who is creating the "culture." Culture can be something overpaid consultants (another topic) talk about but the bottom line is that if you have the right strategy and quality players on the team you have a good shot at winning. As a side benefit of the new leadership we don't have any more of those goofy team building activities. Edited March 21, 2022 by LADuck 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 14 Share Posted March 21, 2022 On 3/17/2022 at 6:15 AM, TAMJ said: Can we please stop talking about "culture". The term has lost all meaning. It would seem if it has lost all meaning, then a discussion would help better define the term, right? If you truly want to stifle the use, maybe suggest the next time somebody says culture they have to take a shot of tequila. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 15 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Please allow me to add: In peacetime, please give me the culture of Athens. In wartime, I'll go with the culture of Sparta. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
