#favouritemodel No. 25 – Targeted development of culture

Culture is formed from the sum of repetitive behaviors in a certain context. With this understanding, we are not helplessly at the mercy of our culture. We do not have to accept it as something that simply develops but cannot be influenced, but can consciously maintain culture and change it in a targeted manner.

With our Reflect – Talk – Walk – Repeat model, we at Movendo have developed a very effective approach to cultural work that has proven itself in practice. Cultural work always begins with reflection. Especially when, from the perspective of the organization, culture seems to develop automatically, it is all the more important to think very specifically about which patterns and behaviors are currently effective and where other patterns should be established. Reflection can initially take place individually, e.g. in order to perceive and ideally understand the existing culture. With the intention of developing a common culture, this reflection must also take place within the team.

Suitable reflection questions could be:

What are the typical behavioral patterns that we exhibit?
What feedback do we receive about our behavior?
How does the next level describe us as a team?

The practical cultural work then begins with a shared vision based on this. TALK stands for making experienced and desired culture discussable. The aim is to talk about perceived patterns in the organization and to set out clear expectations regarding desired behavioural patterns in a transparent and understandable way. This explicit dialog about intentions, expectations and principles is immensely important. Talking openly about culture ensures that the organization becomes aware of the topic of cultural work and the desired culture itself. In addition, explicit and transparently shared expectations and principles provide the necessary orientation for individual behavior. Here, personal and informal discussions are more relevant than official communication on a website or on posters.

Aspects for the exchange are here, for example:

What is important to us?
Where are there opportunities to express these principles in our behavior?
What stories do we have to tell to express our principles and their impact?

However, talking alone is not enough if culture is to be changed in a targeted manner.

In order for the changes to become perceptible, clearly visible examples of behavior (WALK) that fit in with the TALK are needed to show which new behaviors specifically contribute to the desired culture. Many corporate mission statements state that managers should be role models. In my opinion, this statement falls short and I deliberately question it. Managers in organizations are traditionally under close scrutiny. How does my manager drive into the parking lot, how (and who) is greeted, how do they react in meetings, who do they spend their break with? Against this background, the question of “whether” I as a manager want to be a role model or not does not even arise. Instead, I have to be aware that I “am” a role model – always! Accordingly, I have to decide whether I want to be a bad or a good role model, because the behavior I demonstrate plays a key role in shaping culture. It must therefore be congruent with the behavior desired in our culture. When in doubt, my behavior has a stronger effect than my spoken word. As a manager, I should also always be aware of this effect.

Impulses and reflection questions for your WALK:

Demonstrate a behavior that exemplifies the desired culture.
Explain the intentions behind your behavior so that others understand it as you mean it.
What actions show that we take our principles seriously?
How can we highlight the examples of our desired culture?
How can we encourage others to copy our behavior?

Nobody expects managers to be infallible.

In turn, how you deal with your own misconduct can have a formative effect on the error culture of an organization. If I, as a manager, openly admit to a mistake, this already sends a clear signal. A one-off mistake is unlikely to cause lasting damage to the culture. However, continuous repetition is required to actually shape a culture. If we do something differently once, twice or three times, there is a high probability that this behavior will not attract the attention of others. Multiple repetitions of both the TALK and the WALK, on the other hand, ensure that new routines can be developed.

I understand the 4-sound of Reflect – Talk – Walk – Repeat as the core of iterative loops that we need to continuously pull if we are serious about cultural development. Repetition is the key to sustainably establishing a desired leadership culture. In addition to the question of how we regularly remind ourselves of our TALK and WALK, it will be important to establish routines and new rituals to support the maintenance of the desired culture.

What are the new rituals and routines in the application of critical measures?
How do we embed the desired culture into existing routines?
What routines do we need to give up in order to support the culture we want?

How does my #favoritemodel help you?

There are many ways to work on your own culture. This does not mean from the outset that the culture being worked on is bad. Rather, I consider the targeted maintenance of culture to be an essential management task that becomes increasingly important the higher the management role in the organization.

Both the classic formal rituals of an organization are suitable for cultural work:

What values and principles have we agreed and communicated?
Which behavior is reinforced by our incentives?
What kind of behavior leads to promotions?
Which behavior is encouraged by our systems, our processes and our organizational structure and which is not?

As well as informal behaviors such as:

What typical behaviors do we find in our daily interactions?
How are decisions made in our company and who is involved and how?
What typical rituals and routines make up our organization?
Which management behavior is rewarded and which is sanctioned?
What stories, for example about the good or the bad past, do we continue to tell?

All these rituals and opportunities not only provide clues to our lived culture, but are also opportunities to consciously and purposefully maintain or shape this culture with Reflect – Talk – Walk – Repeat.

Feel free to write to me if you would like to discuss this. By e-mail or on LinkedIn.

Author

Marc Chmielewski
Managing Director