How do we change the culture around here?
During a Q&A session this week, after a presentation containing touch points of a future vision, a team member asked me the culture change question. “How do we enact cultural changes here?” The question implied an agreement with the future vision, but acknowledged the challenges cultural changes require to move away from old habits.
I love the question because it gets at the heart of attitudes, customer service, brand, and leadership within a business. It’s gets to the challenge of winning the hearts and minds of the people. Changing a culture is no easy matter. Shawn Parr of Fast Company describes why Culture Eats Strategy and just how culture is a pillar of an entire organization. The greatest strategies in the world will fail if they don’t influence the right cultural mindset of the employees of the organization. 
People will change if they see the value and benefit.
My answer to the question centered around value. It’s the same concept as sales. A sales transaction takes place when both parties see a value in what they are receiving. In an organization, people will rarely change behaviors if they don’t see, understand, and desire the benefit it will bring.
Expressing value is part of leadership. If people get your vision they will want to follow. One of the roles of executive management is to create the context within which the culture of the organization is built. It’s a people thing.
But we are talking about values, assumptions, and behaviors.
No one gets up in the morning with a goal to not do their job and not provide service to their customers. But there are many factors which affect our ability, willingness, and desire to deliver superior service. It’s not easy. This Wall Street Journal article discusses a more systematic and incremental approach to change an organizations culture. If you have read any of my other writings, you’ll know I’m a big proponent of incremental changes to reach a goal.
The bottom line is we are talking about people. People make the culture. The processes, beliefs, values, etc. are a means to the goal. But the culture of an organization lives in the minds and hearts of the people. If they believe in the culture that management wants then they will execute it. So the “how” is not so much about changing organizational layout, processes, and managers. It’s about winning the hearts of the people by showing the value and reaching the heart level.
(photo credit: www.stage2planning.com)