From the Desk of Caspar
Culture Transformation
“Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game” - Lou Gerstner
What is it that defines the highest performing organisations from their competitors? Whilst Products, strategies and individuals may come and go, the single most enduring aspect of companies over the long term is their culture.
What is culture?
Culture put simply is “how we do things”. It’s the spoken and unspoken rituals and behaviours that permeate any organisation. It is the common set of habits and the underlying mindsets and beliefs that shape how people work and interact every day.
I’m a great believer that anything that happens by accident can be made to happen a lot more on purpose. And one of those things is deliberately, specifically and consciously shaping the culture of any team.
This cumulative effect of this shaping of behaviour is what will determines an organisation’s performance.
McKinsey research found that in 1,000 organizations that encompass more than three million individuals, those with top quartile cultures (as measured by their Organizational Health Index), they posted a return to shareholders 60 percent higher than median companies and 200 percent higher than those in the bottom quartile.
Culture Transformation
As organisations grow, especially in high-growth companies it is incredibly important to remain attentive to the culture and the shaping of it. And that shaping happens one individual at a time - it’s about creating the right ingredients for the mindset changes that are needed to create constant high performance over time.
Here are three simple ideas to shape that transformation:
Engage the team with the story of where you’re going together and why it matters
When fast growth is happening, you need to encourage fast decision making. That can only happen when the team is all clear on the leader’s intent, the core mission of the business, and why that matters. Time spent engaging the team and creating that individual connection for each person to one clear and simple version of the truth sits right at the core. As Omar Bradley said, “Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship”. Ensuring the connection for each team member to that pole star story is critical.
Celebrate the behaviours you want to see more of
Far too many teams focus on what they don’t want and the problems they want to see less of. The most successful teams I see in shaping cultures, focus on what they want to see more of and celebrate those behaviours, no matter how big or small the behaviour was. In shaping my teams in work and at sea with my family team, celebrating the micro behaviours in accordance with our culture and values sent clear messages to our work and home teams what we wanted to see more of. You get more of what you focus on. In a fast-moving environment, these are the glue points that stick a culture together.
Encourage a growth mindset and encourage personal development.
Not yet… this is my standard reply to someone who say’s “I’m no good at this”. In all my teams, encouraging a curious mind, a growth mindset is one cornerstone of creating culture transformation. Once we allow the possibility into our minds that change is possible, then amazing things can happen. Until then it’s hard to create change.
I often think that the role of a leader is like that of a farmer. Plant seeds, apply sunshine and water and nurture them. It can be hard to see immediate impact, but the green shoots will appear. If I plant a seed today and expect an oak tree to appear tomorrow, the only person being deluded is me.
Culture Transformation is a prize worth winning. Especially in fast growth companies where pressures come from many different directions. Get it right with the right foundations and you create something that can last and has real impact. Be deliberate, specific and conscious and help each individual to develop so they can play their part in delivering ambitious goals that matter.
“We had the pleasure of Caspar as our keynote speaker during our global supply chain transformation kick off, adding the perfect spice to our program - ”making the impossible possible”. Thank you for motivating and energizing our team! In this time of difficulty and uncertainty - we have never been more convinced and ready to change our industry than now!
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