A recent article in the Harvard Business Review noted, "The 800 pound gorilla that impaired performance and stifled change was 'culture.'" A local newspaper prints company snapshots in which the "culture" section consists of information about dress-down days and espresso machines. Surely that isn't what the Harvard Business Review article meant!

What is "Culture?"

Culture is the largely invisible fabric of beliefs and perceptions that shape the behavior of an organization's members. It is the "unwritten rules" that cause company A to have management meetings dominated by loud debate and contention while company B's differences are expressed more indirectly or aired privately. It is the accepted beliefs that cause the engineering director for company X to say "The customers will adjust to the interface." A different set of "unwritten rules" causes his counterpart in company Y to hold focus groups to get customer input on interface design.

If a corporate program is out of sync with these prevailing beliefs and perceptions, it is almost certain to fail. And if you try to change the culture by edict, that too will fail.

Culture can be altered to support a new business strategy, but it is a gradual process. Change results more from stories on the "grapevine" and small, day to day actions than from programs or policies.

Case Review: A Story of Culture

The software division of a large computer manufacturer had just set in motion a major shift in strategic direction. To support the business strategy, the organization needed to operate as a customer aware, market focused, profitability driven division. It was clear to the executive team that those three terms were not descriptive of the current environment! The team decided a culture change was vital to their business success.

The first step in changing something complex (e.g. culture) is to be sure you thoroughly understand how it presently functions. However, descriptions of culture are often somewhat fuzzy. To be useful as a tool for change, the articulation of culture must be (1) a specific description of behavior and the beliefs that guide behavior, and (2) focused on a business issue.

The unspoken (sometimes unspeakable) beliefs, assumptions, and perceptions that guide behavior are best revealed in the stories of members of the organization. Over 200 employees were interviewed, producing thousands of pages of notes and tape transcriptions.

Turning all of that into a concise and operational description of the culture that would guide executive behavior and decisions was no small task!

We identified four key motivators in the system and described the shared set of beliefs that affected each motivator. The executive team was very engaged. A rich dialogue took place, validating the data and raising important issues.

The discussion was a rich learning experience for everyone and thus we left it. However, the executive team was not yet ready to consider their role in changing the culture. Some thinking time was clearly required to integrate the new information.

In the weeks following the executive discussion, new stories began to pour in. For example, the person writing the division president's speech for an all-employee meeting suggested a different approach for the meeting, based on what he had heard about how the culture worked. A quality plan presented to the executive team addressed the impact of the company culture on the processes used to build quality into the product. Senior managers began to discuss the profitability of possible projects with the engineers.

The list goes on. New stories were popping up all over. The HR management team identified several forays into the new ways and encouraged and supported them. They also identified ways they could help the "new way stories" spread more quickly to support the change.

No new programs were launched. No policies were changed. But with each "new way story," the culture shifts a little more. We simply have to keep adding fuel to the fire and the change will take hold.

Note: If you'd like to know more about the process used to uncover and articulate the culture, email me at Linda@OptimaConsulting.com and I'll send you the specifics.

Leadership Action:

Executives are often advised to "walk the talk." Try the reverse. Talk your walk. In other words, be explicit about the philosophy or values that underlie your decisions and actions. It will help members of organization see a consistency between your actions and your words.