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By
Terri Kruzan
If you expect to be a 21st century leader - taking charge of culture is your job, within
organizations and working across national boundaries. It will be your personal source
of competitive advantage.
Why Blog About Culture? I began blogging to help people adapt to change more
easily and become better leaders. – I wanted to share my skills on ‘culture sleuthing.’
As a medium, blogging is the best way to reach an international, diverse audience with
immediacy. By sharing examples of those who are shaping governments, companies,
countries, communities and families - we can demystify culture.
I’ve grouped the most compelling posts to tell a story—to help readers start their journey
of taking charge of culture as 21st century leaders.— and compiled them into this e-
book.
The (Cultural) Bottom Line. Culture is all around us. Its impact is enduring and
profound—endlessly fascinating and there to be shaped.
Through blogging, I’ve engaged with people in the U.S., Asia, Australia, the Middle East
and Europe—especially young people, students and leaders responsible for change
within their organizations.
Terri Kruzan
The best culture sleuths are curious. They keep their antennae tuned, continuously
digging deeper for data that can be linked together to detect the underlying causes for a
problem. By uncovering clues and developing leads, they learn why issues are not
always easily solved.
For example, let's look into the 'lack of confidence problem' facing many banks today.
The culture sleuth observes the pictures and captions on a local bank's website. They
project images of reliability and saving for the future.
Investigating further, she reads the bank's recent annual report and notes a recurring
strategic focus on higher margin, higher risk products.
The culture sleuth digs deeper and reads about increasing annual bonuses paid to the
bank's executives in recent years - while reviewing the bank's history timeline, she finds
the past focus was on stable and conservative dividends paid to stockholders.
After linking the clues, the culture map is revealing. It appears to chart a shift in the
bank's underlying values from stability and reliability to high-risk and high gain.
This culture sleuthing work reveals a possible underlying reason for the ‘confidence
problem’ facing banks today. And most likely guides the sleuth as to where to put her
next IRA savings deposit!
It is always fun to write about how the American persona manifests itself in the
corporate cultures of many companies.
One of the clear themes in historian Walter A. McDougall’s book Freedom Just Around
the Corner - A New American History, 1585-1828 is that “we are a country and a people
with a ‘penchant for hustling’ - in both the positive and negative senses.” He talks
about:
...how hustlers are folks who are known for getting things done, but also cut corners
and cheat and above all are always in a hurry… fleeing into the future.
You can sense that hustler persona emerge in companies today, especially those with
win-at-all-costs cultures. When asked what it takes to be successful in these
companies, the following behaviors are often noted by employees:
Harnessing the hustler instincts of the American persona is what good leaders should
be about – providing ground rules, incentives and consequences to structure the
competition.
This is not an easy job and usually very much a juggling act on the part of leadership.
Their work is to set and maintain the organizational mission front and center at all times
- without sacrificing the willingness of individuals to take personal risks and create
opportunities for the future.
I started the workshop with the question: “What are the underlying reasons why
American teachers, families and children have a hard time addressing the bully?” The
answers were varied, but a consistent response was: Some people think bullying helps
kids ‘toughen up’ for the real world, so a little bit is OK
Just ‘keep your mouth shut and look the other way’ around aggressive managers
or you could become their target
The questions then becomes: does bullying and harassment go with or against the
grain of U.S. national beliefs? Is it primarily about the need for some to seek attention,
power and control through humiliation, as postulated by the Workplace Bullying
Institute? Or is there something within our national DNA that allows children and adults
to gather around and cheer the bully on or just ignore it?
It became clear after much discussion that bullying may go with the grain of our
traditional American frontier roots - our belief in the importance of rugged individualism.
We admire people who stand up for themselves and show initiative and stamina. This
rugged individualism can lead to creativity and innovation--a core component of U.S.
success. In the workplace, that translates into valuing people who are self-starters.
No one wants to get rid of the self-starter instinct in the American culture. But left in its
traditional pure form , it appears to influence a passive acceptance of the practice of
bullying. There is a need for leaders to balance and align this cultural driver with the
organizational mission. For schools, that means 'creating a safe place to learn.'
My family likes to eat shrimp all year. But I recently read an article in the Atlanta
Journal & Constitution (7/10/08) about “The Hidden Cost of Shrimp,” and I am ready to
feed my family shrimp far less often.
The article explains that both farm-raised and wild caught shrimp can spread disease
and contribute to the destruction of the ecosystem. The reporter, Meredith Ford,
recommends we eat less shrimp, saving them for special occasions. She outlines their
cost to the planet as being greater than their cost per pound in the store.
This article provides an example of one kind of push people need to change how they
act --thinking about things differently is the first step toward acting differently.
In the U.S., people don't think that less is more. It is at odds with Americans' traditional
belief of having unlimited natural resources.
For example, utility companies in the 1950s promoted the use of electric appliances to
sell more electricity and car companies through advertising and easy credit created the
demand for multi-car families.
Americans are starting to question the national belief in unlimited natural resources.
Utility companies are offering energy saving tips, rebates, and car companies are
moving toward more fuel efficient vehicles. And there are articles like the one I read in
my local newspaper about encouraging consumption of locally sourced shrimp, in
season.
Lesson Learned...be careful when valuing tenure over expertise and training
During a recent Saturday night dinner discussion, a friend started talking about his work
and how the “young folks just did not want to pay their dues.” His voice started getting
louder and he said that they need to put their time in and not expect to be landing the
big jobs right away.
My response was. “It sounds like you value tenure over training and expertise.”
His wife smiled and gave his arm a light tap. He looked at me and said, “What do you
mean?”
“You may want to think about what is really needed to achieve results in a job: years of
experience, expertise or both. You can then make your decision about who to put on a
project team based on what is required to do the job rather than on your personal
preferences. It’s important to communicate job requirements when talking to the
younger folks in your company to let them know what to aspire for."
We all laughed, and I said, “Yes, that is what we ‘old-timers’ need to be doing--
managing people as part of our job.”
Twenty years ago, I had my first experience as a consultant in a company with a strong
Daddy Knows Best culture. It was uncomfortable. In hindsight, it reinforces for me the
power generational differences have on employees' engagement in their job.
Daddy Knows Best workplaces are a form of a top-down culture where employees are
primarily told what to do by managers without input. There is a family feel about the
work environment where employees are taken care of; job security usually guaranteed;
and, in return, employees are expected to be loyal.
The CEO politely excused himself. No one said anything; we all just waited. Ten
minutes, thirty minutes, forty-five minutes. It was uncomfortable for everyone - and
clear through body language, waiting for the CEO to return to the meeting was expected
behavior. I started to worry about how anything got done in this company.
Finally, the door opened and the CEO came back into the room. We took up where we
left off.
My experience in the board room that day reinforced my choice to remain in a small
entrepreneurial workplace. The perks of a Daddy Knows Best culture where ‘loyalty =
security’ were not for me. And in my work as a consultant, I learned to look first for
cracks in the strength of a company's culture by checking for differences in perceptions
by age.
In late October 2008, when I read in the papers about former Federal Reserve
Chairman Allan Greenspan admitting to a fundamental flaw in his thinking about the
self-correcting power of free markets, I sat up and took notice.
This was not just an expression of regret about a day-to-day action. It was an
acknowledgement of a flaw in one of his own fundamental beliefs that impacted his
decisions in guiding the U.S. economy!
Notice in the following statement made by Mr. Greenspan before the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform that he includes a personal reference and an
emotional response to his mistake:
He did not go into elaborate detail at the Congressional hearing, but he took
responsibility for his mistake and later in the hearing, briefly noted an idea for corrective
action.
In the world of organizational culture, how current and past leaders respond to mistakes
has profound implications. In cultures where adaptability and innovation are engrained,
leaders regularly model learning from mistakes by doing it themselves and rewarding
others who do the same.
The past 20 years have been a wild ride for doctors, patients, hospitals, insurance
companies and legislators. We have all experienced the pain and the little triumphs of
trying to fix our healthcare system in an ad hoc, change-as-we-go manner.
The conversation is even turning to what role organizational culture will play in our
change efforts.
Adverse working conditions for primary care doctors, including time pressures and an
unfavorable organizational culture, may lead to stress, burnout and ultimately to lower
quality patient care...
The aspect of organizational culture that seemed to have the strongest connection to
patient care had to do with the alignment of values between physicians and leaders: the
higher the alignment, the higher the quality of care.
It would be interesting to know exactly what shared values are important between
leaders and physicians within healthcare organizations, but we surmise from recent
news articles that they include:
The next step is for leaders to work on defining and aligning core values. These core
values will guide strategies and allow for more unified action among the myriad of
stakeholders within healthcare organizations.
One of the big business topics in October 2009 was how to address banks considered
'too big to fail.' According to Allan Greenspan, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal
Reserve - “If they’re too big to fail, they’re too big.”
I do not have an easy answer to what is a complex regulatory decision, but I do have
some knowledge from an organizational culture perspective about how the bigger is
better belief plays out in organizations.
This belief may start with founders and/or leaders focusing on measuring their
company’s success through growth in market share, revenues or customers. If this
approach proves successful, they may find that bigness brings benefits, such as
domination of their industry or elimination of competitors.
As a result, the company may play an industry leadership role, setting their own rules
and driving government oversight and regulations. Maintaining a reputation and images
of strength, bigness and power are all-important.
The death knell for most organizations with a bigger is better cultural belief is similar to
many kinds of empires: somebody smarter, faster or stronger comes along and pulls
them down.
Consequently, using this cultural perspective as a guide, let’s think about the question
of what to do with banks that are considered 'too big to fail.'
From the empire perspective, I’m not sure I want our financial centers that provide credit
and a flow of money for all kinds of private, public and not-for-profit entities around the
world to be on paths to eventual failure.
We usually think of people as heroes/heroines who use their power to serve others. But
today is it also important for our business corporations to take on that role? And are
their certain companies who will be able to embark on heroes’ quests more easily due
to their corporate cultures?
I first encountered a deeper understanding of this belief when investigating the culture
of an insurance company founded in the mid-1800’s. One of the insurance company’s
first corporate donations was for the building of a community fire station and the
purchase of a steam fire engine. The community benefited from a state-of-the-art fire
protection service and the insurance company benefited from the likelihood of reduced
insurance claims due to fire damage.
A more recent example can be seen in the Coca Cola Company investment of $40-50
million in a PET plastic recycling plant as part of their long-term goal to recycle/reuse
100 percent of its bottles and cans in the United States. When speaking of this project,
a Coke executive describes the same kind of ‘win-win’ belief that echoes the insurance
company nearly 150 years ago:
The long-term sustainability of our business depends on our ability to ensure the
sustainability of our packaging. This new recycling facility represents a
significant mile stone as we work to advance recycling in the U.S. and ensure a
strong end-market for our PET packaging.
I do not think that Coca Cola sees itself as on a heroes’ quest. But I do believe that
corporations with ‘win-win’ beliefs that doing things for the common good can be good
for business will be at the forefront of change in our world.
My recent focus has been on identifying companies who are culturally capable of
moving through hard economic times - to become leaders in re-fashioning our global
society. My last post identified Coca Cola with its sustainable packaging efforts .
Wal-Mart is also embarking on the quintessential heroes’ quest. In this case, it’s the
quest to practice environmental sustainability as an opportunity to improve both the
future of its business and the future of the world. Retiring Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott
Jr. articulated this underlying cultural belief well in his last public speech as CEO:
After reading about Wal-Mart’s efforts, I sense that the company is truly working to 'walk
its talk.' It is also using its operational business model to force its suppliers to transform
their business practices and products.
I was curious: is there anything in the company’s traditional culture that will support its
business transformation quest? As a culture sleuth, I turned to Wal-Mart’s history and
to its published values.
At Wal-Mart, they are called Mr. Sam’s Values after the company’s founder, Sam
Walton, and they appear to focus strongly on finding ways to bring the highest quality
product at the lowest price to the customer. They talk about never being satisfied and
the importance of asking: 'Is this the best I can do?'
Economic instability is still with us. And, we keep hearing it is going to take awhile to
work ourselves out of this financial crisis of the new global age. Are there culture best
practices that allow some companies to make it through hard economic time more
easily than others?
Management guru Peter Drucker, recommended in 1991 that leaders build on their
existing culture to spur change. He gave examples about how Japan and Germany re-
built their societies after the Second World War through rewarding new habits based on
traditional national values.
His advice is still the most reliable and quickest way to redirect organizational culture.
An important heads-up for leaders before they start tinkering is to first understand the
lay-of-the-land: what are the organization's current beliefs and values - and what new
habits are needed to move forward into the future?
Now comes Drucker's best-kept secret of culture change - Do Not Reinvent the Wheel.
Instead, seek out individuals or groups within your organization that already exhibit
these desired new habits and ask them how they do it. Next shift recognitions, rewards
and consequences in support of the new desired habits.
And finally, the hardest part: leaders need to practice the new habits themselves. They
must be willing to make mistakes and tinker some more, until the formula is found that
helps their organization move through the hard economic times and into the future.
Voila - best practices for tinkering with culture in five easy steps!
It was put together by a group of Harvard Business School students in May 2009 - part
of a growing movement within the business school community to resurrect social,
personal and organizational stewardship responsibilities among business professionals.
The Oath is a voluntary code of conduct created to bind together business school grads
with a set of shared values to guide their day-to-day actions and decisions as future
managers and leaders.
The MBA Oath is not as naive as you might think. Some professions, such as
medicine, require graduating students to take the Hippocratic Oath which focuses on
the social as well as the clinical responsibilities of practicing physicians.
These professional standards also have the promise of affecting the workplace cultures
of the organizations business graduates will someday lead. And the business world that
effects all of us.
The culture of organizations are most strongly influenced by the personal beliefs and
training of their founders and long-term leaders. The behaviors they model and reward
are one of the primary culture-creating mechanisms in corporations.
Thank you.
Terri
She received her MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory
University and her BA from Mt. Holyoke College. She studied
organizational culture under Dr. Edgar Schein of M.I.T. and Dr. Roosevelt
Thomas. She co-authored the book A Guide to Culture Audits.