Culture may be one of those concepts that seems like a good idea, but is difficult to define and implement. See how to consider and change your organization's culture.
Culture is one of those “good ideas” that is often ignored because it is not as easy to define and implement as a new HR policy or software development methodology. Most leaders recognize that culture is important, but struggle to explain what it is and how it can be changed for the better (or worse).
Some companies and organizations carefully manage and modify their culture, while others assume it is an innate quality that is hardly observable, much less something that can be changed. At a basic level, culture dictates how a group behaves. Think of it as an organization's “operating system,” which provides basic, fundamental rules for interacting with other people and the outside world.
Your diverse business functions, from sales to customer service to technology, operate within the rules and constraints of your culture, just as your web browser or email application is subject to the fundamental constraints of your computer's operating system. or smartphone. Just like your computer, if your organizational “operating system” is poorly designed, the software running on top of that operating system will likely perform suboptimally or fail entirely.
The benefits of a strong culture are that it allows your organization to respond robustly and predictably to challenging problems . Essentially, culture guides your people in making decisions when no other resources are available. Organizations with a strong culture can weather difficult business conditions, ethical challenges and emerging trends, as culture provides an anchor and structure when all else fails.
Culture is also an asset that is difficult to duplicate. A competitor can easily copy your products or steal your team, but they can't easily create a strong culture that mirrors yours. Most organizations with strong, positive cultures perform highly, perhaps an obvious result of the support and shared values that a strong culture provides.
Start with the key elements
When considering your organization's culture, start by thinking about the key elements that should exemplify your group's “operating system.” It might be helpful to think about other companies with strong cultures.
A famous example is the Ritz Carlton hotel chain, known worldwide for its focus on customer service. The company motto: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen,” provides a statement of this culture built around customer service, treating employees with respect and empowering everyone in the organization to deliver exceptional customer service.
What core values should be your organization’s hallmark? Avoid the temptation to create a multi-page “shopping list” and focus on 2 or 3 values that can range from ethics to relentless innovation to frugality .
Think about the times when your teams will face difficult decisions and the response you would like them to make. Should they act cautiously and bring together a dozen colleagues to “solve the problem,” or should they take the best action in the moment and adjust course later? Should they do everything in their power to make the customer happy or focus on shareholders or another important stakeholder?
With a list of key values, consider whether any of them conflict. If you want to create a Ritz-level customer experience but also a culture of extreme frugality, you are asking for the impossible. Similarly (and perhaps more relevant to technology organizations), trying to create a culture of innovation while avoiding risks and controlling costs is utopian.
Building Culture
With your culture's key values defined, assess where your organization currently stands in exemplifying those values. You may be on the right path to implementing some of the values you highlighted, or perhaps you are trending in the opposite direction and need to redirect.
Perhaps the two most potent and interrelated ways of developing and shaping culture are leading by example and telling stories. Like it or not, your teams will imitate the behavior they observe from their leaders both positive and negative.
All the lovely mission and value statements, HR policies, and expensive consultants in the world will do nothing if you and your fellow leaders behave contrary to the cultural values you are trying to establish. Leaders who act contrary to specific values create a negative culture that will become distrustful and resistant to leadership efforts to dictate values.
However, if you, as a leader, exemplify the cultural values you are trying to establish, you will set a powerful example that will likely be imitated.
You can accelerate this effect by creating and sharing organizational “stories” about the successful application of these cultural values . Just as various nations and individuals have their own histories and mythologies, your organization must also have shared stories that exemplify its culture.
If you've been around innovative companies, you've probably heard some variation of the story of a small team or a single individual identifying a problem and solving it heroically with minimal resources other than courage and initiative. Likewise, customer-focused companies have dozens of stories of employees going above and beyond the typical “call of duty” to satisfy a customer.
By exemplifying the cultural norms you are trying to establish, you create some of those stories. You can also share examples of when these standards have been demonstrated. Ideally, the “hero” of these stories is a typical individual or team, allowing others to see that it is not necessary to have a fancy title or a specific position in the organization to meet cultural expectations.
If done right, your culture will inform your teams' approaches to everything from marketing to software development.
Cultural Care and Feeding
Like anything, culture requires occasional “care and feeding.” Combine your periodic strategic planning efforts with a brief assessment of your company culture. Are you making progress implementing your key values? Are you and your fellow leaders behaving in accordance with the “operating system” you are trying to build on your team? Do employees have a “library” of stories that exemplify the best elements of your culture that they naturally share with others, especially new team members?
Cultural change certainly doesn't happen overnight, but it can be implemented without any financial costs or flashy projects with some forethought and daily effort. Just like a well-tuned operating system, your culture will keep your team performing well and provide a foundation for growth that's hard to duplicate.
