It’s Not Your Culture - Moving from what to how

Introduction

“Hardly any term is thrown about more carelessly and with less accuracy than organisational culture”.

Culture is so often talked about, easily slipped into discussion, often taking the credit or blame. In one working day I have witnessed discussions on, an inclusive culture, performance culture, safety culture, compliance culture, customer centric culture and people orientated culture. However, rarely is there a deep enough understanding or commitment to realize these cultures and unlock the companies performance. Heidrick & Struggles in a recent CEO survey noted that most CEOs make culture a priority, however, surprisingly, they saw that most aren’t particularly intentional in their pursuit with only 12% feeling they understand their culture.

What is culture?

In the 70’s researchers carried out a study into group norms and their resilience. They formed a group and established a set of norms that the group abided by. Over time the researchers took out one group member and replaced them with a new one until none of the original members were left. At the end of the exercise they observed that even though none of the original members who had created the group norms were left, the original group norms remained. Culture is group norms at a large scale. It is something that lives beyond the individual and has a life of its own, it becomes an entity unto itself, independent of the initial reasons that formed it. Something powerful in shaping the performance of the organisation, good and bad.

Culture is not easily seen, like asking a fish about the water they swim in, it is more bound into the assumptions and systemic fabric of the organisation. It surfaces in the patterns of the organisation, “the way we do things round here”, however it is the assumptions and mental models that underpin it that really drive the culture. There is a complexity to the topic of culture, many attempts to codify it in a simple way fall into being simplistic. Only measuring some elements of culture and missing aspects that could be much more significant.

Impact of culture

Does culture matter? Participating in a culture simulation exercise some years back I was confronted by both the speed and power of culture. The exercise split the group into two, the “Talls” and the “Shorts”, the Talls followed a set of individualistic behaviors with no physical contact, and the Shorts followed a collective, high physical touch set of behaviors. After some minutes the two groups were asked to work together on a common task. I was shocked, there was an immediate and powerful clash of cultures. It had taken only a few minutes for each of the two groups to so identify with their groups behaviors for them to become resilient to change. This clash of cultures had a deep impact on the ability and productivity of the two groups to work together. The different cultures became an obstruction to collaboration.

I was shocked, there was an immediate and powerful clash of cultures.

If you can’t see it then it’s not your culture

Much of the work on culture in the business world is reflected in defining purpose, vision and values, then communicating these out into the organisation. These are not easy exercises to do well however, the true challenge is to see them lived in the organization; if you can’t see it then it’s not our culture. Many companies talk proudly of their culture but sadly, too often, they refer to something aspirational rather than lived. It's not about the talk, it's about the walk.

It's not about the talk, it's about the walk.

Turning intent into reality

So how to turn intent into reality? I have worked on a number of business transformations of which culture was a significant feature. Walking back through those experiences, success in changing culture came from changing the day-to-day experiences employees had. We act our way into a new culture not communicate our way there. Breaking old patterns and establishing new ones. How to get the statements from the poster on the conference room wall into the hearts, minds and actions of the people?

We act our way into a new culture not communicate our way there

Who has the greatest influence?

In Daniel Goldman's book Primal Leadership he references a study that identified 78% of the work environment is created by the leadership style of the direct manager. If culture eats strategy for breakfast, then leadership eats culture for breakfast. If culture is to change then mobilizing leadership is a key step and an important starting point. Do you and your leaders understand the responsibility? Are you aware of and understand the gap from what you do today? How can you bring this to your teams?

Leaders can do five things to shape culture...

• Model the culture - Act your way there, map the culture to your daily responsibilities, re balance the time you spend to more closely reflect the new culture

• Involve others to live the culture - transfer the ownership, collaborate on what needs to change and how

• Help others break from the past culture - call out old behaviors, support their efforts, challenge their assumptions and thinking through pattern breaking incidents

• Create a supportive learning environment - we are practicing not getting it right all the time, no blame or know it alls, provide maps and models that codify the culture and behaviors

• Communicate the culture - a following activity not a leading activity, communication still plays a role, explain it, articulate the why, share stories, point out examples, make the culture more conscious

Are we really who we say we are?

To build a thriving culture, it starts with action, less focus on communication and more on closing the gap between what you say and what you do. Culture in the halls vs culture on the walls. Not a statement on a poster but in the hearts of the people. Successful leaders of a culture change do not worry about the initiative stalling, they are acting in a way consistent with their beliefs and behavior. Probably for many companies a true change in culture is not really expected but a shift or development from the culture of today. Edger Schien reminds us that culture change should be purposeful, something that is needed to operate more effectively in the market. It should solve a problem and not be an end unto itself, to manifest behaviors that will enable the business to be more competitive and successful.

If you can't see it, then it's not your culture.