016:Culture Is a Drama: What Is Your Clinic Performing?

In this episode of The Veterinary Culture Lab, Andi and Josh explore a powerful idea: every veterinary clinic is performing a play—whether it realizes it or not. The stage is your hospital. The cast is your team. The script? That is your culture.

Grounded in the evidence-based framework from Organizational Culture in Action by Gerald Driskill and Julian Mirivel, this episode unpacks how workplace culture is co-created through everyday communication, rituals, stories, symbols, and leadership behaviors. Rather than treating culture as something abstract or mysterious, this conversation makes it visible, measurable, and—most importantly—adjustable.

Through real-world veterinary examples, graduate-level insight translated into practical application, and just enough theatrical metaphor to keep it interesting, this episode helps teams examine the gap between what they say they value and what they actually reward in daily practice.

You’ll hear:

• Why culture is more than a mission statement on the wall
• The difference between espoused values and enacted values—and why the gap matters
• How stories, rituals, and symbols quietly shape team behavior
• Why leaders are meaning-makers, not just decision-makers
• A simple 15-minute “story circle” exercise to uncover cultural strengths and pain points
• Practical ways to run small experiments that move your clinic toward alignment
  
  

Whether you are a practice owner, manager, technician, or veterinarian, this episode offers a clear, science-backed way to understand your current culture and begin renovating it—one intentional shift at a time.

Because thriving in veterinary medicine is not accidental. It is directed.

Resources:
Episode Textbook:

Title: Organizational Culture in Action: A Cultural Analysis Workbook (4th edition)
Authors: Gerald W.C. Driskill and Julien C. Mirivel

Amazon Link to purchase: HERE

Flourish Academy - Certificate in Applied Veterinary Resilience

Florida Man This Week - Banana 

What Do You Think? Reach out to us and let us know at [e-mail]

Your Hosts:
Andi Davison LVT, CAPP, APPC 

Josh Vaisman MAPPCP, CCFP

At Flourish Veterinary Consulting we renovate veterinary cultures. We diagnose what’s working, blueprint what’s next, and train every team member - blending positive psychology with real-world experience - so thriving becomes the norm, not the myth. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Introductions and Names

00:45 Passover Charo-set Story

02:02 Black Friday Smoothies

03:20 Culture as Drama

05:26 Wicked and What It's About

06:45 Webs of Significance

08:04 Organizational Culture Workbook

09:57 Applying OCA in Practice

13:59 Espoused vs Enacted Values

16:40 Wellbeing Value Gap

18:20 Culture in Stories and Rituals

20:36 Holiday Party Culture Tale

21:35 Hospital Party Ritual

23:31 Reading Culture Daily

25:01 Leaders Shape Meaning

26:41 Culture Renovation Compass

28:30 15 Minute Story Circle

31:34 Psychological Safety Tips

34:37 Culture Detective Walkthrough

35:58 Make Values Observable

38:14 Small Experiment Ripple

41:14 Key Takeaways And Offer

42:26 Florida Man Banana

43:54 Thanks And Farewell