A. How to Make It HAPPEN
Survival of the Fittest
This phrase, originating from the Darwinian evolutionary theory, constitutes a basic natural law, but the history of economy so far has proven its validity in business as well: organizations need to adjust to their environment in the best possible manner in order to survive. Change and evolution are inescapable. And thus, we keep on challenging the organizational status quo, the practices, the way the organization operates. Simply: its culture. But on the other hand, researchers indicate (e.g. HBR 05/2000 or Gallup 05/2013) the magical threshold of 70% failure rate of all transformational efforts. The proven fact is that in the majority of cases the value generated by transformational endeavors is significantly lower than it should be, no matter if we talk start-ups, mature organizations or cross-border ventures!
Instead of discussing the sources of those failures, let us concentrate on those factors that are common denominators in successful culture transformation, based upon the research and decades of global culture advisory experience of Hofstede Insights! Below you will find the four principles to make culture and its transformation really work for YOU!
Culture Iceberg
Over the years we all have seen the visualization of culture as an iceberg. But are we really aware how to actually USE it in a transformation process? So – before we jump into the principles – a quick look at the iceberg – to ensure that we are on the same page.
A regular iceberg has its layers. The deeper you go the less accessible they become – the more energy is needed to reach them. Interestingly – the same applies to the culture iceberg. The higher layers are filled with quick fixes and are easy to shape but if you attempt to alter those layers that are located deeper down – you can expect more push back and more expressive reactions as you touch elements that are much more emotionally loaded.
The most outer layer of the culture iceberg is symbols: it refers to elements that have much broader meaning to the members of the given organization than those outside. These might be logos and visualization, status symbols (as office layout or having your own room), slogans and jargon used, etc., etc. You will change them pretty easily. By doing that – will you transform the organization’s culture? Hardly…
Going deeper would entail working with behaviors & attitudes of the members of the organization but also the prevailing rituals (or existing set ways to behave and solve various organizational challenges as for instance – communicating or solving problems). They are significantly less tangible and visible. And hence much more energy is required to influence and change them.
Deepest, in the iceberg’s core, we reach beliefs that are heavily emotional aspects of the organizational practices and as such are genuinely difficult to change.
Culture transformation is all about synchronizing relevant changes parallelly on all the layers of the iceberg.
1. Balancing Act
Culture is a direct balancing act with your strategy: it will either speed things up or slow them down. This is why understanding the strategic priorities and linking those directly to the organisation's culture parameters is a prerequisite for any successful transformational process. Organizational culture should be seen as a strategic tool. Thus, understanding what bottom-line effects are needed and expected and what business levers are to be pulled, needs to be clearly defined. Why are you taking this change? What business results do you expect? How is this going to help you deliver the strategy? Just a few basic questions to ask. And – the first pre-condition for a successful culture transformation.
2. Consistency
Changing the organizational culture requires a lot of drive and sweat. If we would assume that people in the organization only wait for a new change initiative to be announced and deployed – we would rather be gravely disappointed… You want to change the organizational practices? Then the initiatives you implement need to be anchored as deeply as possibly in the whole cultural iceberg. Not only touch upon the outer layers like the symbols but also get anchored in the organizational tissues: the behaviors and attitudes stimulated by the organization’s different systems including rewards and sanctions, as well as rituals and beliefs being influenced by general and particular strategies was well as by shaping the organizational capabilities. Hoping that the employees will follow nice and catchy slogans whilst e.g., being rewarded to do something completely different is rather too optimistic.
Clear focus, clear direction, coordination and strong coherence and synergies among all the initiatives implemented is another condition needed to make a transformation work.
3. Make the Gaps Tangible
Understanding where there are gaps between the existing, actual working practices and the strategic focus is the quick win in transformation. The more strategically granular and measurable the gaps become and can be visualised, the higher the chance that the remedies will be precise and first of all – effective, leading to the expected strategic outcomes. So be precise and make all relevant gaps you want to fill – tangible. What gets measured, gets done!
4. The Leaders' Walking-the-Talk
Put a watch onto the wrist that you normally do not use. How uncomfortable does this feel? How awkward? How long will it take you to decide to switch the wrists? And that is just a meaningless exercise. Think about being induced to change somewhat more important behaviors – for instance the way you execute your daily tasks. How difficult and emotional can that become? Will it suffice to be told what to do? Seldom! However, if your leaders not only TELL you to change but also show the way, change their own practices – that is a different story. Culture is led by the Top – we need to ensure that the leaders actually walk-the-talk. So, planning the transformation focus on the leaders first. Their behaviors, attitudes and capabilities. Leaders – on all the hierarchical levels.
Organizational performance is a conjunction of the strategic intents of the organization and the organizational culture that is most appropriate for those intents. Transforming the culture for a better fit is a painful and lengthy process. Mastering it, ensuring sustainable results and shortening the change time always is a function of the right approach and the proper tools.
Hofstede Insights has spent over 35 years helping some of the world’s largest organizations transform their intercultural and organizational challenges into business success stories and translating data and predictive analytics into powerful, orchestrated actions. Talk to us about the MultiFocus Culture Transformation Framework™. We will gladly share our experiences.
