⛺️ How Do You Essentially Change Culture?

Awareness is not action.

You know that regular exercise will solve your back pain. You know that if you sleep on time, your mood will be better the next day. You know that you can be more assertive in conversations to communicate your point.

Each one of us has the capability to spot problems and then even solve them. Only through that process have we advanced as a human race.

But the gap between problem spotting and solving is where the struggle is. This newsletter is about the process of solving a problem in the context of culture.

In a recent conference I attended, leaders spoke about the mindset shift required in the current talent pool.

• Ownership has to increase

• Risk-taking ability needs to go up

• Need more leaders in times of change.

Solutions were thrown around, dime a dozen. And don't get me wrong, it is a human tendency to offer a solution instantly. But it is slightly more difficult to come by a workable way to apply those solutions.

Especially when you're an organisation of over 1000+ people, spread across geographies with multiple functions. Any move you make has the potential to make a system-wide difference.

That's when it is wise to shift one's attention to behaviour. Lack of ownership, low risk appetite, and poor leadership are jargon. It is only through a behavioural (something that we can see and hear) indicator that we come to a conclusion that things are not working.

And the thing with behaviour is, it serves you till it doesn't. And when it doesn't, you replace it with another one.

With that knowledge, let's reframe this statement...

From "Every advancement we’ve made as a species has come from our ability to solve problems." →

To "Every advancement we've made as a species has come from our ability to replace behaviours that no longer serve us."

Now let's apply this in the context of culture.

How would we, as a consulting firm, help leaders form an intentional culture?

A litmus test to check how effective a consultant's proposal: pay attention to the quality of questions asked as opposed to the amount of solutions provided.

Since no one knows a culture like a person living in it daily, offering outright solutions is like the British telling pre-independence India that you should reduce the masala in your food because it gets too spicy.

Therefore, we'll start with questions, here are a few...

What kind of culture do you want to build and why?

This decodes what you consider important for your organisation. Here's where the concept of 'Values' comes in.

Common answers sound like:

• A culture of learning

• A culture of innovation

• A culture of autonomy

and then we switch to the current reality by asking:

What is the culture that exists today?

Not the one on the website, but the one expressed in meetings, in decision-making, in who speaks and who stays silent. This emerges slowly through conversations, patterns and contradictions.

Only once a gap is visible between the current reality and future possibility does a conversation about building a bridge come into the picture.

The bridge: What behaviours would tell us that the desired culture is embedded?

A lay-up to this question is to establish the fact that all change is behavioural change. And behaviour does not change through intention alone.

It changes through shifts in:

• patterns

• assumptions

• mental models

Now if you claim to value innovation and learning. Are people doing the same thing differently? Are decisions being made without escalation? What risks are being tolerated and taken?

Until behaviours are defined, culture remains an abstract ambition.

What is your 'Safe Playground'? A place to practice newly identified behaviours.

Once new behaviours are identified, they cannot be rolled out via email or policy. They require a playground. A space where people can experiment without fear, practice new ways of thinking, fail safely and receive feedback.

This is where structured interventions come in:

• facilitated workshops

• formation of internal core teams

• Behavioural nudges included in daily work

• real work simulations

Only once a behaviour is repeated enough does it begin to stick. And when behaviours stick, does culture begin to form.

Why does behaviour change sound harder than it is?

People don’t resist change because they’re stubborn, or ill-intentioned. People are people. Each existing behaviour serves a purpose.

For example:

Working in a structured order, following managerial instructions, and executing tasks efficiently is not “bad behaviour.” In fact, it was essential in stable, predictable environments.

But markets evolved. Today's context might demand different things. Hence, behaviours aren't shunned but replaced.

That's why we say...

Culture is a 90-day moving average

It is a 90-day moving average of the collective behaviour in your organisation: such fluidity is the nature of culture. Every time someone breaks a pattern or violates the existing norm, they signal to others what’s acceptable. If the environment embraces it, a new pattern emerges.

That’s how cultures evolve sometimes without anyone noticing.

Tell us how we are doing, give us feedback here.