I think a healthy culture includes laughing at (and occasionally with) each other.
Your culture rests on the foundation of your core values. If you’re a leader, that’s a drum you have to keep beating every day for the rest of your business life until you’re bored silly by them yourself.
And when you’re utterly sick of repeating them, someone will still come up to you and express surprise that these are the company’s core values and look at you with mild disappointment as if to say, “if they’re so important, why don’t you tell them to us sometime” and walk away with a slight shake of the head, prepped for some good dinnertime conversation around the delusion and disorganization of management in general and you in particular.
The way to know that you’re pounding the drum anywhere close to enough is when your people roll their eyes and mock you for repeating the same stories over and over. Then you’re getting closer.
