Up-Leveling Your Organization
Culture - The Force Multiplier
Culture is much more than the cultural artifacts around the office like bean bags, ping pong tables or the mission, vision and values posted on the walls and on the company intranet and website.
Culture is the behaviors that are promoted, discouraged and/or tolerated by people and/or systems over time. This program takes your team through the 3 pillars of culture Foundation, Forensic and Fulfill (maybe need a new word for the last one) to craft and sustaining behaviors that serve your organization's vision and strategies creates a 'force multiplier' that can up-level your teams and your organization to new levels of prosperity, productivity and results.
As Peter Drucker was famously quoted, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."
"The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate."
- Gruenter and Whitaker
Introduction
Up-level your organization on every level
A sustaining culture fosters trust, allows for constructive conflict and establishes the commitment to drive individual and team accountability. This is what drives results. A deliberate culture that aligns with your corporate values and vision creates an environment where people are excited to address challenges knowing the journey and the results will be exciting, respectful and worthwhile.
Issues related to culture can show up in the workplace as both passive-aggressive behaviors and defensive-aggressive behaviors. Symptoms of a struggling culture include:
- Avoidance of issues
- Lack of accountability
- Lack of healthy debate due to avoidance of conflict
- Lack of honest, candid feedback
- Prevalence of overheated discussions
Does this sound familiar?
One of your managers is in a meeting with their team. Some of the work that needed to be done on a project has been completed. Other work has missed the deadline - and it may not be the first deadline that has been missed. They ask what happened - not much is said, diverted gazes, a mention of conflicting priorities, and a new deadline is set yet again.
Or this?
Someone in a meeting raises an issue. Another team member suggests a solution. Yet another team member says that won't work, we've tried that before, the and shuts the team member down - and the first and only idea for a solution is implemented or the argument goes on and a solution is delayed for days.
What's not working & why
Many organizations work on the symptoms by addressing them with individual training, coaching, some other intervention. What's worse is when people are promoted to another position in another department to avoid addressing on-going issues. It shocks me how often this happens.
Unfortunately, this focus on the symptoms turns into a game of whack-a-mole. The issues continue to arise over and over...and over. And they will until they are dealt with appropriately.
The Culture-Force Multiplier process provides an alternative to chasing problems and designs a strong, deliberate culture that breeds results.
"When I took over as President of Waukesha Gas Engines, I had a very strong group of talented individuals, but we weren't a cohesive team. Dotty was recommended to me as someone who could help pull us together. Dotty spent over 6 months with the whole group in one-on-one and group sessions. She quickly gained everyone's respect and they were All extremely open with her as a result. Her leadership and ability to break down our barriers was excellent and we were soon marching to the same beat. At the end of the assignment, I am proud to report, we formed a very strong team, broke many Business financial and market metrics."
- Brian White, Former President, Waukesha Gas Engines
A Better Way
Deliberately Designed Culture Determines Results
When your culture is well constructed, deliberate and solidly implemented - teams trust each other. That trust makes space for healthy constructive conflict. It is within this healthy conflict where all ideas can be debated until the best, most innovative solutions arise. As you create this foundation, commitment, accountability and results follow. In monitoring and reinforcing the core culture behaviors, the organization can continue to up-level.
How it Works
3 Pillars to a Deliberate Culture as a Force Multiplier
We will investigate together your current culture and build a set of new deliberate behaviors that reflect the core values of your organization. We will co-pilot with your leadership team to build each pillar. Throughout these steps we co-create the insights, tools and solutions to achieve the results that will elevate and up-level your organization.
Forensic
- Empower authenticity and foster transparency
- Obtain an accurate pulse on behaviors and perceptions driving the current culture through targeted individual and group interviews
- Identify the gaps between the prevailing behaviors driving the current culture and what is desired and needed to achieve the organizational vision
Foundation
- Define the desired culture that will create the environment needed for organizational success
- Develop deeper and stronger relationships
Identify and close trust gaps - Tune the energy footprint
- Enable Productive Dissonance
- Establish a detailed plan to navigate the change from the prevailing behaviors to the behaviors required to realize your vision
Fulfillment
- Execute a leadership plan that will guide the organization into a new vision
- Nurture commitment & accountability
- Establish a cadence of review to sustain this new culture and course correct as required
Let's Explore the Possibilities
Get Started
Ready to jump in?
Here’s how to get started.
It takes courage and resilience to begin the journey to transform and up-level your organization.
Let's talk for 30 minutes and explore how culture can be a Force Multiplier in your organization.
Schedule a discovery call where we can explore the first step: The Culture Forensic.