Culture and strategy

I've been thinking alot about the classic line: "culture eats strategy for breakfast." Does it really? Which trumps which?

Discussing it today with Ehsan Derayati, Ph.D.'s EMBA class at the Concordia University - John Molson School of Business, we decided that trying to figure out which takes primacy over the other is the wrong question. In fact, culture is strategy, just as market, channel, etc. are all aspects of strategy. And just like any other aspect, if your organizational strategy does not include real choices about how your culture will support your objectives, then you're doing it wrong. Too often, we ignore the opportunity (and challenge) that culture creates for our strategic plans, and suffer the consequences.

No one likes breakfast more than I do, just make sure you're including all the right ingredients! Culture is strategy, time to start treating it as such.