Beliefs are rules, rights and wrongs, shoulds and shouldn’ts, goods and bads, cans and can’ts about the world or other people. Beliefs are more deeply seated in our subconscious, so they require more excavation to change, and the skillful use of neuroscience techniques you’ll learn from me in coming blog posts.

Identity is a collection of Beliefs about ourselves. Our initial identity was formed in early childhood, yet as long as we commit to personal growth it will continue to evolve. This is why we learn to edit our Maps—to expand our Identity and have more choice in our lives. Fill in the blank to learn what your beliefs about yourself are: “I AM _____________”. Powerful? Confident? Loved? Influential? Smart? For your company, your collective identity would be “WE ARE _____________.”

And now we come to the best part: Core/Culture. Core applies to an individual, and Culture applies to an organization. It’s who you are, what you stand for, what must last if all else is stripped away. It’s your purpose, your contribution to the greater good, your legacy, your relationship to power and possibility.

Per my blog Why We Do What We Do you’ll recall that a company too has a Map, which is primarily formed from the Maps of the CEO and key tribal leaders of the company. The Culture for a company is the collaborative expression of the company’s beliefs about its executives, what rituals the company has, what is rewarded, what behavior has consequences. The tribal customs are here, the function or dysfunction is here. It’s the real stuff.

In my next blog I’ll show exactly how Core/Culture changes can be made, as well as a fascinating before/after scenario where Crushed Culture was ended.

Are you focusing on the Symptoms or the System?

Christine Comaford was once a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and Buddhist monk. She combines the latest neuroscience techniques with business strategy to achieve remarkable results at rapid growth companies. She’s also the author of NY Times bestseller “Rules for Renegades.”