Culture Casualties Part 2

In this blog, we have discussed self-esteem and culture earlier. Is it any wonder we can predict the rule of thirds? The third who support you are the ones who have already separated who they are from what they do. That is why they can so easily support you. The third who rides the fence is just waiting to see who wins. Why go to all of the effort if it’s all for naught? The resisting third is your outwardly vocal group. You must prepare for them. They will bolster together and try to gather support at lunch, coffee and smoke-break times. It will be informal. We have not witnessed a revolt or civil uprising from a culture change, so don’t worry. But this final third will be very frustrating for you.

The two-thirds who are not fully supporting you, can you blame them? Have you introduced new policies or programs in the past only to backtrack and remove or rescind them? You know the answer is yes, so don’t try to deny it. With this being the case, there is some merit to the case of the fence riders and the outright resisters. There is a chance you will change your mind. They need to know up front the difference between a culture change and introducing new parking procedures.

What we can tell you is that there are two basic approaches to changing your culture: one is the sneaky way and one is the brass band way. We prefer the brass band way. The sneaky way is when management tries to slip in bits of culture change little by little. This little-by-little approach is so subtle that it rarely has any impact on the culture cycle.

You are looking for dramatic change within your organization. You have arrived at this decision based on careful analysis and study. You have also decided that this change is necessary if you are to survive. So why delay it or try to soften the blow to your company? You need it.

The best approach is the dramatic, big show method. It is sort of like setting a bomb off in the middle of your company and then rebuilding the pieces. When you use this method, you are trying to capture everyone’s attention immediately. You want them to know that you are serious, this is not another fruit-of-the-month club program, and that you expect results.

Next time, we will discuss the key "opening moves" in culture change.