Culture Change Caution
Leaders, be cautious about culture change, because it may not be the best solution for your problem or opportunity.
Before you publicly pronounce the words culture change, ask four questions. You may find there’s an easier, more direct, and faster way to achieve your desired end result.
Culture is the soul of the organization – the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested…[it] holds the thing together and gives it life force. Henry Mintzberg
1. What’s your company’s culture?
Ed Schein, professor emeritus MIT, knows about culture. He describes it as an invisible, stability-providing skeleton around which the soft tissue – the way we do things around here – grows. Just as we can’t see the body’s skeleton, we can’t see culture. We simply knows it’s there.
Tribes spread their culture by telling stories that reflect who we are; how we behave; and the guiding values that inform those behaviors. Corporations are tribes.
To understand your company culture look first to the founders. Why did they start the company? What were the founder’s values? Then, find pivotal stories about how the big bosses respond to big issues over time. What’s the pattern? What underlying values do those patterns demonstrate?
Let’s explore these questions at Charles Schwab.
Founder, Chuck Schwab, wanted to find a way for average citizens to grow their wealth. His solution was to democratize Wall Street, so anyone and everyone could invest, not just those who could afford high brokers’ fees. Charles Schwab valued democracy. He also cared about the plight of average citizens. Strategies, products and behaviors at Schwab are built on these values. They served as guiding principles when company leaders decided to cut their own pay, rather than layoff more people.
By contrast, Michael Duke, Walmart’s CEO, cut more than 13,000 jobs while he was paid $19.2 million. Different founder, different culture and values, different behavior.
2. What problem are you trying to solve?
Once you understand the corporate culture, develop a clear simple statement about the problem or opportunity you want to address.
- New technology products have multiple failure points. We’re over a year late in getting them to market. We haven’t identified or solved the underlying problem.
- We have too many turf wars. Functions operate in silos.
3. What behavior change(s) will solve the problem?
Next, identify who’s involved? Name the groups and/or people. What do they need to start doing, stop doing, do differently? Specify the behaviors.
- Stop blaming other engineering groups. Start cooperating to solve the problems between and across groups. Demonstrate a sense of urgency and accountability for coming up with solutions.
- Demonstrate commitment to company-wide goals, and collaborate across functions to achieve them.
4. Do these behaviors reflect, or differ from, company values?
Look at the behaviors in light of the culture. If you want to achieve cross functional collaboration, examine the culture’s prevailing success stories. Do they feature individual heroes who save the day? If so, you do indeed need to engage in culture change. You’ll probably have to change company structures and processes as well. Do you measure, reward, celebrate and award individual achievements, such as exceeding sales quotas? No wonder people aren’t collaborating, and they won’t until you reward them for it.
If, however, the culture supports the desired behavior changes, look elsewhere. Do you, as a leader, tend to blame individuals when things go wrong? Do you call them out in public? In this case, a change in your own behavior is the best solution. Others will quickly follow suit.
What needs to change in your organization? My complementary 30 minute consultation will help you take the right first steps.