Culture

Peter Drucker said, "Culture eats strategy for lunch." Raj Sisodia warns that it doesn't wait until lunchtime.

Concious companies need to be trustworthy and transparent. The minute information is hidden, it brings out the worst of the gossip mill. Perception is reality. If someone thinks a bad thing is happening, it doesn't matter whether or not it is actually happening. Empowerment is one of the keys to all of this. Expect the best and train them in the values and purpose. Then give them freedom to enact what you have trained them to do, all the while keeping the transparency there. Everyone should realize that whether they do the right or wrong thing, it will be known.

When creating a transformation within a company, individuals must buy in and be willing to change their behaviors. Enough people changing their individual behaviors will create the expected shift. Some people will be lost, however. Not everyone will be willing to make the change. Pushing out the naysayers, whether actively or passively, will serve to improve positive behaviors in two ways. One is that the naysayers are gone and their bad behaviors with them. Two is that those who remain will recognize that the company's commitment is there - it is serious. I ran into this as a manager. We were having quality issues, so we did training and let people know of our expectations, but we had to take some temporary but drastic steps to ensure that everyone was buying in to the transformation. Not everyone could handle the pressure and some left, as they were offended that I didn't fully trust them to do their job. The thing is, I believe in empowerment but at the same time expect greatness. Empowerment doesn't mean simply allowing people to do whatever they want. It means making it clear you expect a high level of performance and then giving them tools and trusting them to make it happen. The transition isn't always comfortable.

When hiring, make it clear what your criteria are. Attitude is most important. Skills can be taught, but attitude is difficult to change. Interview in groups to see how the person interacts with a variety of existing employees. Include front line employees in the process, as well as high level management to ensure the best people are hired and that new hires know the company is serious about what they ask of them. Culture and behavior are different but related. You can make a behavioral change by requesting people act in a certain way. Over time, the change in behavior will either be rejected or accepted. Eventually if accepted, it will be integrated into the culture. Rejected behaviors are not sustainable and will result in the requested behavior being subverted or dropped.

The sandwich chain Even Stevens is known for a delicious menu, live music, and most of all their charitable giving. Their deal is that for every sandwich you buy, a sandwich is donated to charity. This is in the form of each sandwich including a credit of about 50 cents that preselected charities can use to purchase food from their suppliers. Their website talks about how they are a collective rather than just individuals and that they care immensely about the enjoyment of food as well as making a difference in society. The downside is that they lost sight of this mission, expanded into too many stores too quickly, and had to close several stores and suspend the charitable donations. Their sandwiches are still delicious and expensive, but a couple years later they are unable to resume the sandwich credits. They claim they are still tracking what they owe their charities and will make it up to them. They serve as a warning against taking your eyes off the prize. They forgot about what set them apart in favor of rapid growth.

It will be interesting with the current pandemic to see how companies emerge on the other side with their strategy and their culture intact or improved, vs. those who will not weather the storm well. Many companies have moved to telecommuting after avoiding it for years in spite of research that shows people are often happier and more productive working from home. After having such a drastic change forced on them, I will be among those watching to see what changes when a cure is found. It is one thing to see which companies will survive the pandemic itself; it is another thing to see which companies can transition out of it when it is over.

Don’t start a business to serve yourself and use others. Start a business to express yourself and serve others.