Culture

I think culture is a combination of values, principles, and habits, or practices for a group of people. It's learned. I think it can be changed or adapted, but only if the culture itself is open to learning and change. And I think for software development teams, culture can relate to how team collaborates, communicates and supports one another in delivering their software.

So an organization that truly values feedback and diverse viewpoints, which implies a culture of trust and respect that would be one. 

Another would be an organization that expects, not just empowers, but expects their teams to adapt to their own particular situation to solve problems.

A third one would be organizations that practice testing in the same iteration as the work is performed versus kind of the old school throwing work over the fence to test later.

Culture gives newcomers a set of guidelines, newcomers to that organization or team to help them adapt to the group more quickly, and I think that culture based on trust and safety can help that group move through some really difficult situations. And finally, I think culture can really help expose newcomers to much more diverse viewpoints.

So, culture can definitely become dogmatic and inflexible. You can think of the not invented here mindset, or we've always done it this way. Similarly, I think that cultures can lead to a lack of diversity, thought practices, and inclusion if they're not careful, and sometimes, trying to deal with a very different culture seems impossible. 

The culture of a company or team is like their collective personality.  Every member of a group contributes to its culture through the way they interact with people, how they work, and even what they don't do.

For example, if a company was to say, "we have a culture of learning," that might mean that they actively help and mentor one another, see failure as a learning opportunity, and / or take dedicated time each week for focussed learning.  You may notice these are acts, not quotes.  Much like with personality, when it comes to culture, it's not just what you say, it's what you do.

And much like good quality, good culture is subjective.  A good starting point for assessing a group's culture might be how it makes you feel, and how psychologically safe you feel.