At a Glance:

• Culture vs. performance is a false choice

• Measuring the "unmeasurable" aspects of culture

• A revolutionary approach to performance management 

_______________

How do you win a market known for being “friendly” but unambitious? 

1. Be the kindest of the kind

2. Dominate through force and execution

3. Find a healthy middle ground

The False Dichotomy

Andy Myers, CEO of eLuma, is an old YPO friend who has faced this question frequently. 

He has spent 30 years in education, an industry where this divide is common: high-performers who get s**t done are seen as too aggressive, and friendly veterans who build great relationships often deliver subpar results.

Performance is the enemy of culture, and culture is an excuse for mediocrity.

Organizations that embrace an overly kind, borderline-nonprofit mentality can eschew anything too ambitious and become stagnant.  

This is a human problem. One coded into our DNA. In romantic relationships, we struggle with balancing safety versus growth, security versus desire. Individually, we seek that elusive harmony of self-love versus ambition and creativity, between being and doing. 

The 50-50 Solution

How we choose to walk atop the fence between these competing needs defines our business and sets the tone for its destiny. 

In Andy’s case, he has created something novel: a performance management system that balances "how we work" and "what we accomplish" at 50% each.

The brilliance isn't in the split—it's in making values concrete and measurable. Instead of vague aspirational statements, his team developed behavioral descriptions tied to value creation. 

For example, being "solution-oriented" is not a trite aphorism on a Successory wall poster, but is mapped to specific workflows and measured through defined actions, such as: 

• Asking the right questions and analyzing data to ensure the best ideas win

• Bringing positive energy and learnings to optimize performance

Beyond Traditional Ratings

But here's where it gets interesting. Rather than using traditional 1-5 scales that make everyone feel like they're failing if they're not at the top, Andy's system uses descriptive categories that reflect different phases of that person’s growth:

• Falling Short

• Improving

• Performing

• Excelling

• Transforming

These aren't grades—they're snapshots of where someone is in their journey. Someone might be Transforming during a critical project phase (less common), then return to Performing in a healthy way during normal operations. Most people are between Performing and Excelling…and that’s fine. 

It's about the journey, not the score.

The Competitive Advantage of Balance 

In markets where relationships and trust are paramount (like Andy’s),  winning comes from mastering performance and culture, which leads to innovative products, deep connections, psychological safety, purpose, and results that support collective wealth creation.  

That's the opportunity. 

• Make values measurable and rewardable, not vague words on a slide

• Drive performance without sacrificing humanity

• Build self-correcting systems around results and relationships

It's not easy. But competitive advantage never is. And in a world where traditional moats are evaporating, culture might be all that’s left.

With love,

Dave

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