LeadershipHQ Magazine 3rd Edition September Issue | Página 13

If the current culture isn’t getting the organization where it needs to go, intervention might be necessary, but transformation? Really? Could we not concentrate on figuring out how to optimise the existing culture’s best attributes. What if we looked to implement, and systematize new behaviours that fit well with the existing culture rather than focus on stopping old practices and starting new ones. No such thing as a perfect culture Constant changes in the marketplace, customer needs and technology at a minimum all point to the need to develop an adaptive culture that can effectively carry your organisation through most situations. Yet it’s important to understand that culture is unique to each organisation. While doing things a certain way can be very positive for one company, trying to impose the same culture on another organisation can be devastating. This is a reason why some leaders thrive & others fail miserably if their styles are contradictory to the environment. If you look hard enough, most organisations will find they already have pockets of people who practice the behaviors they desire. It’s possible to draw on these positive aspects of your culture, turning them to your advantage, and offset some of the negative aspects as you go. This approach makes change far quicker & easier to implement. Leaders should focus on the areas of overlap between the current and preferred cultures in order for culture change to feel like evolution instead of revolution. This will make the necessary changes less scary and decrease resistance. When culture change is necessary, discover your strengths Clearly, cultural change — and even transformation — is sometimes necessary. If an organisation isn’t getting the results it needs, it’s likely that it needs to look at the management, leaders & strategy. But it’s far too superficial — and ineffective — to take a deficit-based approach to culture change, pointing out all the flaws. It’s much more powerful to assess the culture’s strengths and, exploit them. Most people will shift their thinking only after new behaviors have led to results that matter—and thereby been validated. Of course, culture change is not a short-term process — it will take years of consistent & persistent effort. An organisation doesn’t become a more collaborative culture, for example, just because you announce “we have a collaborative culture” or when they stick a few teams of people together. Rather than dismissing culture work as “soft stuff,” it needs to move to a high-priority, but let’s not fool ourselves, we’re changing whole beliefs systems & it may not be the silver bullet to all what ails us – its only part of the solution. Culture change checklist: Strategic vision - have a clearly and widely articulated view of the direction and purpose of the proposed change that includes measurable and achievable goals. Symbolic leadership - senior executives must behave in ways that are consistent with the new culture…………….always! Management commitment - senior management must be committed to change and must be seen to be committed. Communication - involve people and be honest and transparent. Reinforce change - take every opportunity to convey the message. Mel Tunbridge is the Founder & Principal Consultant of Agile People Partners. A consultancy specialising in straightforward people management solutions that will make a measurable difference. Agile People Partners also helps existing HR teams to get projects done, by project managing or adding additional thought leadership or grunt where necessary. This allows HR Directors & their teams to celebrate & promote the success internally whilst not losing traction on business as usual. Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.agilepeoplepartners.com.au © LeadershipHQ 2015 | 13