Building a stronger organisational and business culture starts with No
Asking for recommendations is great but not like this
November 17, 2011Building a Company of R E S P E C T
November 25, 2011Recently, I came across an article in Strategy & Business by Booz & Company called The Global Innovation 1000: Why Culture Is Key, which looks at how culture affects innovation and growth in companies.
The article starts by stating that:
“Booz & Company’s annual study shows that spending more on R&D won’t drive results. The most crucial factors are strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation.”
The article goes onto to state:
“The elements that make up a truly innovative company are many: a focused innovation strategy, a winning overall business strategy, deep customer insight, great talent, and the right set of capabilities to achieve successful execution. More important than any of the individual elements, however, is the role played by corporate culture — the organization’s self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing — in tying them all together. Yet according to the results of this year’s Global Innovation 1000 study, only about half of all companies say their corporate culture robustly supports their innovation strategy. Moreover, about the same proportion say their innovation strategy is inadequately aligned with their overall corporate strategy.”
Broadly speaking, culture is a set of assumptions, beliefs, values, actions, behaviours, standards, practices and norms etc that govern and guide the way we interact with each other and with our customers and stakeholders outside of our businesses.
However, some may think that company culture is something just for larger companies. I would disagree. Notice how when you walk into a company, large or small, the way people greet you, the way they talk to each other, the atmosphere, the environment, the pride they take in their work?
That’s culture at work.
However, there’s a lot of talk about culture and, sometimes, like in life we must realise that there can be a marked difference between what people say their culture is and what they would like it to be and what it actually is.
Therefore, if you are struggling with issues around staff turnover, employee engagement, gaining new customers, dealing with customer service issues, customer retention etc then you could do much worse than having a critical look at how your company culture is helping or hindering your growth plans.
Where to start?
I would suggest that you start by conducting a cultural audit to understand the difference between what you say your culture is and what actually happens.
However, many cultural audits will focus on asking your people, your shareholders, your stakeholders and your customers what you stand for and what you aspire to. I think you should do this. But, what I would add to that is to also ask them to describe what you don’t stand for, what you are not as well as what is not acceptable.
Why? Well, determining what is not acceptable will allow you to establish your foundation conditions, your law & order if you like, within your organisation, whether it is 5 or 5,000 strong. Only then will you be able to build on this foundations to create something strong and sustainable that supports your business going forward.
As people, I believe, we like certainty and knowing what is right or wrong as much as possible. It seems to work in the way we run our societies so why not in the way we run our businesses?
How many companies do you know where they start by telling you, whether an employee, a shareholder, a stakeholder or a customer, what they don’t stand for or what they don’t find acceptable? Would an approach like this help deliver better customer relations and greater employee engagement by helping everyone know where they stand right from the off?
9 Comments
Hi Adrian,
Like the idea, it does strike me that really I am not too bothered about culture, what I care about is behaviour.
Consequently when “we” talk about cultural change that really is short hand for behavioural change.
Maybe starting by expressing what behaviours are and are not acceptable is a simple and effective place to start
James
Hi James,
I fear that I both agree and disagree with you. I think that behaviour is crucial element of how we are as businesses and our behaviour is a manifestation of what we believe. However, as such, it is only part of the picture/process.
Perhaps, therefore, we can agree to disagree on this point but agree on the point that starting with what is not acceptable may provide better returns than what we want to aspire to.
Adrian
Hello Adrian
You stress the importance of culture and clearly articulating what you do and do not stand for. You then go on to say: “I would suggest that you start by conducting a cultural audit to understand the difference between what you say your culture is and what actually happens.”
I am a ‘graduate of Landmark Education’ and two of the three foundations of being a leader and leadership are Integrity and Authenticity. Integrity is simply honouring your word as yourself. Authenticity is defined as: “Being and acting consistent with who you hold yourself out to be for others, and who you hold yourself to be for yourself”.
So one of the key challenges and keys to leadership and performance (bringing about results in line with your stand in life) is being “authentic about your inauthenticities”. What? Specifically, where in life you are not being or acting consistent with who you hold yourself out to be for others (customers, suppliers, employees, the Board, the financial analysts, your wife and children….), and where you are not being or acting consistent with who you hold yourself to be for yourself. AND be willing to tell the truth about where you are not being genuine, real or authentic.
Does that sound simple? Let’s carry on and see what Professor Chris Argyris who has spent some 40+ years studying human beings (especially Tops and Middles) says about authenticity:
“PUt simply, people consistently act inconsistently, unaware of the contradiction between their espoused theory and their theory-in-use, between the way they think they are acting, and the way the really act.”
If you are with me so far then you will get that we are all being inauthentic a lot of the time – that is simply what comes with being human and that is what Professor Argyris is pointing out. That is not the issue because we can continuously clean up the this inauthenticity being authentic about it. For example, I say I stand for honesty discussion yet I have to admit that last week in a meeting with a key customer I was not honest – my fear got the better of me. And this is what I am going to do to clean up the mess that I made.
Does that sound simple? Now imagine you are the CEO and you have to do that. How likely is it that the CEO will be authentic about his inauthenticities? Most of us having an amazingly deep addiction for “looking good and avoiding looking bad”. So I can forgive the CEO.
I am rambling. My point is that audits of the kind that you are suggesting are a waste of time unless the guy and guys at the top are willing to be “authentic about their inauthenticities” on a daily basis.
Maz
Hi Maz,
Thanks for your comment. You certainly extended and deepened my post so thank you for that. I also have had some experience of Landmark Education. I learnt a lot from the weekend course that I went on.
Back to your point. Yes, I agree, this type of initiative is a waste of time like many in business if it does not have everyone completely behind it. Not saying they are behind it but actually being behind it.
Being ‘“authentic about their inauthenticities” on a daily basis’ sounds like a big ask for many bosses but I would suggest that that is the sort of standard we should ask from all of our leaders as we give them the responsibility to deliver and look after the things that we care about.
However, whether in a small business or a large business, what would or could that mean for a leader/manager? What would they have to do to display this or address this in their quest to improve their own as well as their business’ performance?
Adrian
Hello Adrian
Be absolutely clear on what you stand for – both in terms of what you are up for creating and the values you live/die by. If you read “Pour Your Heart Into It” by Howard Schultz you might find that Howard and Starbucks stood for a specific possiblity: educating Americans to appreciate and love coffee the Italian way – to Italian standards. That was the outcome. Yet, Howard had specific values on what is the right way to live and conduct business. High on that list of values: integrity, doing right by people, treating people with dignity… And because of those values he paid his employees well, treated them well, was hones with them and offered them a share in Starbucks – all exceptional at that time in his industry. It was not easy for him – he had to persuade a lot of cynics including his Board and shareholders.
Communicate clearly what you stand for – both through words and deeds. Remember, that deeds outweigh words massively. That is why it is difficult to fake what you really stand for – it oozes through especially through difficult times.
Being authentic about your inauthenticities and clean up the mess that you have created. How do you do that? ONe way to do that is allow others to point out your inauthenticities without fear. Here is what Shultz says in the chapter titles “People are not a line item”:
“Do I want a team of employees monitoring management like this, holding us to our own high standards?” If I turned it down, what would that say about the sincerety of management, toward the Mission Statement? We listened respectfully and asked a few questions. After a few days of consideration, we approved the idea……Any employee, anywhere, can make a suggestion or report an action that seems contradictory to our purpose……..Hundreds are submitted each year….”
Maz
Hi Maz,
That’s a great example of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, what they did and the lessons that they learned. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Adrian
Really great idea. I really care more about behavior. But sometimes culture really matter in some amount too.
Hi and thanks for your comment.
Don’t you think that being too prescriptive about behaviour can have a negative impact on the culture you are trying to create?
After all don’t different people take different approaches to solving the same issue with equally good outcomes. It’s just that we are different people. If we concentrate too much on behaviour are we not in danger of taking the ‘soul’ out of our business?
Adrian