100 Years of Tradition Unimpeded By Progress
The title is a quote that I first learned when I was a firefighter, and it was often used as a descriptor of the fire service; perhaps you saw it on the wall in the movie Backdraft. Though modern technologies may have been introduced into firefighting and paramedicine, the idea of the quote suggests that the fundamental culture and traditions were largely unchanged.
Having moved into the civilian world years ago, it has become a quote I use to illustrate the power of culture and the trap of "the way we've always done things around here." Most of my clients are successful industry leaders achieving their strategic goals…but in their successes, they've fundamentally outgrown themselves.
Their business strategies are sound, they wouldn't have grown without them. The leaders are intelligent, some of the best in the business. Their products and services make a difference and impact their communities in positive ways.
And that's where the problem lies…they’ve had no reason to evolve.
But, for these organizations, long gone are the days when the senior-most leaders could walk the halls and know most peoples’ names and their concerns. The complexity of business today means it's harder to keep track of the day-to-day. New generations coming into the workforce that want fundamentally different things from their work are adding another layer of complexity.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the impact of the pandemic on organizations. It’s not just the newer generations rethinking they relate to our work, many of us are. Organizations are being called on to respond.
I read a recent post by a thought leader around culture, and they stated that the only reason organizations change is when they get in trouble. It's the burning platform that drives them.
Yes, in many cases, that's true- the news is filled with stories of these companies.
But I believe there is another truth…
Organizations don't have to wait until the emergency to evolve their culture. In fact, I believe, all organizations should be reviewing, and in some cases, refreshing their cultures on a regular basis, at minimum every few years.
Whether it's due to growth, covid, new generations in the workplace, responding to social unrest, it is essential to assess if your culture can support all of the changes impacting your organization and take you into the future.
How to start?
Get clear about where you're going. When we work with clients, we ask about their hopes and dreams for the future. For individual leaders, these conversations may include their individual impact and legacy. For executive teams, we get specific about long-term strategic goals.
Our favorite question: Imagine we're meeting sometime in the future (the timeline is different for each group), and you are stoked about what's happened in the organization- what are you stoked about? What have you accomplished?
Though the hopes and dreams questions can feel squishy and irrelevant in the beginning, most clients realize that elevating above the noise of the tactical can create space for new perspectives and understanding of what the organization needs.
With a clear (and agreed upon, if you're doing this with your leadership team) picture for the future, the next question to ask is "WHO do we need to be to get there?" I emphasize the "who" on purpose.
Evolution and culture change starts with leadership development- we fundamentally need to grow and evolve ourselves if we're to support change in our cultures. It's important to determine any development and education for both individuals and the organization as a whole. For example, if an organization is evolving to have a safety culture, there is a lot of education needed to teach everyone in the organization what it means to be a safety culture, what success looks like, and what behaviors will be expected of everyone in the future.
Another example is education on diversity, inclusion, and equity. It has been integrated into leadership development programs because leaders first need to understand what it all means, what success looks like, and what behaviors are expected of everyone. Evolving towards a more inclusive culture depends on a solid foundation of leadership development.
Next, ask what do we need to do to get from here to there? When facilitating this with a leadership team, I can count on the team to come up with very tactical answers to this question, but that's not what we're focused on when we ask this question. The answers may not be tactical.
For one executive team, the step they agreed on was to say “hi” to their employees when visiting sites vs. keeping their heads down and focusing only on the task at hand. This simple action had an impact that even the leaders couldn't have predicted and kicked off what has been a successful culture change.
Since the focus is on culture, the actions may seem abstract or oversimplified. For us as consultants, we know our clients are smart and we trust they can do the tactical work, so we spend most of our energy keeping them in this space of inquiry and "squishiness" because we know that the outcomes of their tactical conversations will be better for it.
When exploring these questions, try to focus on the high-level mission, values, and behaviors that make up your culture. Even if they aren't written down, they are there. Every organization has a culture. The question is, "is it the culture we want?"
If you're interested in learning more about the culture assessment, check out Part II of this blog series here or set up a time to talk by clicking on the link below.