Your culture is not what you say it is.
“It is not what is on your walls, it is what is in your halls.” - John Maxwell
BLUF: Your team culture is not what you say it is. Culture is a combination of the behaviors that your employees enact and what they allow from one another. Your culture is shaped and influenced by the leadership but, ultimately, it is driven by the employees and what happens in the company day to day.
Competitive advantage is a condition or circumstance that puts a company in a favorable strategic position. Over the last 10-15 years, culture has become a buzzword that every CEO or coach is trying to wrap their heads around. As every good company is beginning to focus on implementation of culture, it is no longer a competitive advantage; it has turned into a requirement. It is now a matter of keeping up with the Joneses (or Amazonians). We know culture matters and, when done properly, works. It matters significantly how a company defines its culture. However, it’s only the first step of many to come that creates the culture you envision and need. So, how do you implement culture effectively in your organization? Having a good answer to this question will help you to transform what is possible in your organization and allow for a common “frontal lobe” for all employees to help them in their daily decision-making processes. This article will help you gain clarity on this topic of culture and will list out 6 of the biggest pitfalls to watch out for while implementing your culture values in your organization.
Pitfall #1: Failing to understand the time and resources it takes
Many companies and teams think that just having the conversation about culture and then pushing those core values out to their employees will allow them to check the box on this topic. Culture implementation is a difficult process. Research shows that, depending on how large your company is, it could take anywhere from 3-5 years to take root. You are literally trying to:
(1) Provide a new narrative to your employees which will shape beliefs
(2) Re-prioritize the values that people in your organization hold
(3) Intentionally craft an environment that supports these values and manifests itself in all aspects of the company (known as: observable artifacts)
This is a transformational process which does not happen overnight. We can speed this up by thinking differently about our approach and implementing all 6 sources of influence, but this does take some time and resources to do well.
Pitfall #2: Failing to identify the true influencers in their company
In 1896, Vilfredo Pareto was the first to discover and write on the 80/20 principle. He observed that, in many areas of life, 20% of the causes produced 80% of the effect. For instance, In Italy at the time, 80% of the land was held by 20% of the people. In my leadership company, we’ve found that in many organizations this holds true with influence. Within every team or group, 20% of the people are exerting 80% of the influence. As culture has been the buzzword for the last 15 years, influence will be the buzzword for the next 15. It is everything. Influence is the “capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.”(Dictionary.com) Behavior is a key word for culture because it is the end result of the culture process and is what is manifested from the beliefs and values. It is important that you recognize that, just as there are high-performers for the bottom-line in the organization there are people in your organization who are culture high-performers as well. They are tough to recognize because we as executives and managers don’t measure this but the following are three characteristics of them:
When they speak, people listen
People are always around them
They are courageous enough to have crucial conversations, ie: hold people accountable in a way that others are appreciative of
Just like in sports - the best players are not always best suited to be the team captains. Many coaches will make this mistake because they fail to determine the difference between influence, which is many times very intangible, and bottom-line producers. Culture is about shared assumptions and values that drive behavior. One of the biggest influences on behavior is social pressure. Target your main influencers in the company to develop them more to allow them to exert the positive influence you want them to be in your company culture.
Pitfall #3: Believing that Powerpoint > Environment
“Many communicate - few connect.” - John Maxwell
Lewin’s equation states that behavior is a function of person in their environment. It is crucial to understand the power that environment and experience play when it comes to the development of an individual. Many organizations think that giving new employees a printout or powerpoint session twice a year are enough. Although these play a role and are one singular source of influence, they are not enough to drive behavior change. The Heath brothers wrote a book called “The Power of Moments”. In it, they describe the four characteristics of a defining moment for an individual: elevation, pride, insight, and connection. We as leaders want to leverage this understanding to craft experiences that drive home certain values for the re-prioritizing or new belief to take hold in individuals. Lecture plays a role but is not as impactful. When it comes to culture implementation, learning and development should play a major role and it should think differently about its approach to more deeply and quickly acclimate the people in our organization into our culture. The following are a few things to remember when it comes to learning and development:
We write to think and teach to learn.
You hear,you forget. You see, you remember. You do, you understand.
Reflection leads to questions which lead to growth.
Note: If you ask an employee what the core values of your company are and they do not know them, how do you expect them to live those out or be using them in their daily decisions?
Pitfall #4: Failing to measure culture
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” - Peter Drucker
Many teams that I work with have no way or idea on how they can measure the culture in their organization. For every single one of them, it has come down to a “feel”. And feelings will only get you so far in our world of data in 2019. Sticking with our feelings plays right into the multiple biases that we fall prey to such as hindsight, outcome, and confirmation biases. Measuring culture requires a little thinking outside of the box but you need to give it your best shot. The trick is to focus on behaviors since they are specific, measurable, and observable. I start by looking at our company values and breaking down each into specific behaviors that represent these values. Then, create assessment criteria that allows for you to bring data and metrics to into your decision-making process in regard to company culture.
Pitfall #5: Choosing Outcomes over Values
Gather the leadership team around. Draw two columns on a white board. On the left, put your core values, and on the right, put your outcome goals as a company. Talk honestly amongst the team and see if you would be willing to sacrifice any one of your values on the board to reach any of the goals listed. If you are willing to sacrifice any of the values for that outcome, then they are not really your core values. For example, let’s say you are a college football coach who has three core values for your program: honor, integrity, and commitment. Each of these have specific behaviors that align with these values. Let’s say there is one play left for the national championship which is your dream goal. If that coach would be willing to cheat, just one time, with no one finding out to win a national championship then integrity is not one of the program’s core values. This is an important distinction. We have no control over the past or the future. Only the present. An unwavering commitment to your core values every single day and in each decision will allow you to lead a “process” (100% effort and focus on the present moment) that will lead to long-term success and sustainability. This is because your company character drives the process which drives your results. In other words - who you are as a company will drive what you do and these behaviors add up to certain results. Find what you really believe in and stick with them and they will carry you much further than ever dreamed.
Pitfall #6: Believing that high-performers > Culture Fits
Recruiting is a big deal when it comes to company growth and success. Most understand this but have a hard time implementing it. They see the perfect technical expert in their field and can’t help but lunge out and snag them. Remember that it is much harder to develop a person’s value system than it is to teach them certain technical skill sets. You want to look for both competence and character in your hires but if you were to err, err on the side of a culture fit and not a technical fit.
Conclusion
Creating a solid culture is one of the best things you can do for your organization and the people within it. Remember that it’s about the environment that you create. You must exert intentional influence on your organization and continuously strive to bring order to chaos. An emphasis on culture won’t fix every single problem but it is certainly in the 20% that exerts 80% of the overall influence within your organization. Develop the frontal lobe of your company and make it easier for people to behave in the right way for the benefit of themselves, their coworkers, stakeholders and shareholders.