Sometimes we get life backwards. We want growth and profits, so we work on strategy, cut costs, staff up, develop new products. All are good things to do; all are important to success. But something BIG is missing.

That missing piece is that culture drives profits. If we want growth and profits but leave culture to chance, all of the marketing efforts, sales processes, and strategies will be met with dismal results. Because… culture is the IT.

This magazine is focused on breakthroughs in culture.

Archie McDonnell is an example of a CEO who decided to shift a culture and has reaped the rewards by more than doubling the size and profits of his Mississippi bank.

He focused in the right place—on culture. He focused on growing people and teaching them how to be.

A strategy futurist would have told Archie to forget it. In a market with dismal growth and some of the highest poverty rates in the country, any logical thinker would have engaged the left brain to tell Archie it couldn’t be done.

But the impossible is now a reality. Miracles do happen to those who approach business consciously.

Sometimes the easiest way to learn how to do something well is to first learn how to really mess it up—so you can avoid those things. The things we do to create the messes are often more memorable than the things we do correctly. We’ve covered those in this magazine as well.

And while we’re on this track, Seth Godin’s interview will give you some great ideas about how to shift your culture and customer loyalty by creating remarkable experiences in your service strategies.

We challenge you to apply these principles. They work much better in application than in contemplation. Enjoy the “culture shift” ride!

Click here to download Issue 3 (pdf format)