Is State Street Agile Enough to Thrive?

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Measuring culture

Measuring culture is not easy. We spent a decade at MIT figuring out a groundbreaking way to do it.

The Economist, By Invitation: Two experts predict AI will transform companies' understanding of themselves, by Don and Charlie Sull — Our approach, as featured in *The Economist*.

How we measure culture

We combine the latest AI techniques with irreplaceable expert judgement and expertise to make sense of culture. Our proprietary platform is built on over 10,000 MIT and Harvard-level professor hours of curation.

How we benchmark

We use many different datasets to measure culture. For this analysis, we show Glassdoor reviews. Contrary to popular belief, Glassdoor reviews are not negatively biased. Asset management reviews are, if anything, positively biased, with 64% of industry reviews positive 5- and 4-star reviews. Glassdoor has additional benefits like high candor and direct comparability.

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State Street has many strengths

State Street's culture scores well on many of the hundreds of dimensions we measure. Employees are significantly happier than average with flexible schedule, for instance. State Street also scores well above average on diversity, toxic culture and transparency.

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But agility is vital

Flexibility keeps people. Agility keeps the firm.

The Financial Returns of Agility
Don Sull on why agile firms out-earn their peers.

In the AI era, the best moat is agility

Read the news. Do you really think turbulence is decreasing? Agile companies execute faster than competitors when AI, geopolitics, regulatory uncertainty, and macroeconomic shocks punish laggards.

The most agile companies earn twice the total shareholder returns of the average company

That is what a decade of our research at MIT found, anyway. Watch the video to learn more.

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How does State Street do on agility?

Of the 63 asset managers we measured, State Street ranks 41st based on what 2,561 employees say.

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CultureX can help

We are a few stops away on the Red Line.

Don Sull

Professor, MIT Sloan & Co-Founder, CultureX

Charlie Sull

Co-Founder, CultureX

Over the past decades, we have helped hundreds of firms like State Street measurably improve their agility and do what they need to do to thrive in turbulent markets. We're right in MIT—come say hi, or let's go to a Red Sox or Celtics game on us!

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Spread the Word

We've been published everywhere! Even still, it's hard for a boutique Boston-based advisory firm to get the word out. If you know anyone in State Street who would be interested in this agility research, we would greatly appreciate you sharing this site with them.

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How agility works

CultureX's research identifies seven drivers that accelerate execution or slow it down.

Own the outcome

Take initiative and hold yourself responsible for results.

Employees take initiative without waiting for permission or instructions, get things done, and hold themselves and others responsible for results.

Build winning teams

Attract exceptional talent and fight to keep the best.

The organization attracts exceptional talent, fights to keep the best, and parts ways with those who fall short of high standard for skills and behaviors.

Share strategic context

Everyone on the same page.

Employees at every level understand the strategy and align their activities with it because goals, progress, and performance are shared openly.

Seek the truth

Speak the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Employees speak the truth even when it’s uncomfortable, challenge each other directly and respectfully, and change their minds with new evidence.

Reallocate resources

Move cash, talent, and attention to the best opportunities.

The organization moves cash, talent, and attention quickly from failed bets and declining businesses to the most promising opportunities.

State Street's Key Gap

Fight complexity

Minimal bureaucracy and barriers.

Leaders eliminate excess bureaucracy, simplify unnecessary complexity, and manage remaining complexity with simple solutions and collaboration across teams.

Fight complacency

Never stop trying to be better.

Employees act with urgency, pursue ambitious goals, and remain paranoid about emerging threats, even when the company is doing well.

Asset management will change dramatically in the AI age