Culture Evolution in the Context of SIAM Implementation

I recently attended the ServicenorthNordics SIAM Conference hosted in Helsinki.

It was a valuable experience, and I felt deeply honored to contribute as a moderator representing itSMF Finland for Finland's inaugural gathering of the SIAM community.

During the conference, notable inquiries emerged, including a discussion on managing cultural evolution during the implementation of the SIAM ecosystem within organizations. I perceive this as a domain where my expertise as a certified Strategy Implementation Professional and affiliation with the Strategy Implementation Institute can offer additional insights and value.

While two organizations may adopt the same strategy, their implementation approaches will inevitably vary due to the unique cultural characteristics inherent to each organization. Consequently, despite the standardized framework provided by SIAM, the adaptation of an implementation strategy becomes imperative to account for these cultural disparities.

The Strategy Implementation Roadmap delineates seven components crucial to executing a strategy, with "Culture Evolution" recognized as a pivotal element among them.

When dealing with Culture Evolution there are four stages for implementing Culture Evolution.

The stages are:

1.?????? Crafting

2.?????? Embedding

3.?????? Executing

4.?????? Sustaining

In this edition, I intend to delve into the crafting stage. Subsequent editions will explore additional stages of the process.

Crafting

Identifying the following elements is crucial during the crafting stage:

• Leaders’ Role in Culture
• Understanding Your Organization’s Culture
• Importance of Culture in Implementation

?Leaders can undertake specific actions to propel strategy implementation forward, necessitating cultural evolution.

A good example is:

“A prominent leadership ensemble in the United States observed a stagnation in their internal meetings, hindering the pace of implementation. Concerns arose as employees seemed engrossed in lengthy discussions during meetings, diverting attention from actionable tasks. In a bold move to rectify this inefficiency, the decision was made to remove all chairs from meeting rooms, compelling attendees to stand throughout sessions. This transformative measure yielded remarkable results, drastically reducing meeting durations from two laborious hours to a mere 20 minutes. The newfound surplus of time empowered employees to channel their energies more effectively into substantive actions..”

Recognizing the organizational culture is paramount for successful SIAM implementation. Before embarking on SIAM implementation, specific tools should be employed to facilitate a comprehensive understanding. The following tools have been identified as particularly beneficial for this purpose.

• Participate in a Culture Walk
• Conduct Culture Interviews
• Culture Surveys

As per the studies done by the Strategy Implementation Institute, a few important culture questions are identified to use in culture surveys. They are as below.

• How do leaders define our organizational culture?
• How do employees perceive your culture?
• What is unique in the way we work that makes us useful?
• What are the stories told about our organization?
• What new actions do employees need to take to implement the strategy?
• What aspects of the culture must change to support the implementation?
• What supporting mechanism will encourage these actions?
• How will the culture contribute to implementing the strategy effectively?
• What actions should the leadership team be modeling?
• Does the reward and recognition scheme encourage the action required to be implemented?

As per Jim Whitehurst, “Culture is learned behavior” (Reference: https://hbr.org/2016/10/leaders-can-shape-company-culture-through-their-behaviors)

Therefore, leaders can shape the organization's culture through their behaviors. After the Crafting stage next is the embedding stage. I anticipate covering the embedding stage in the forthcoming edition.

Comprehending the organization's culture and bridging any disparities between culture and implementation is paramount in the realm of SIAM. Culture, defined as the prevailing operational ethos within an organization, holds significant influence over its functioning. Misalignment between SIAM implementation and entrenched operational norms can engender unnecessary costs and complications. Hence, before implementation, deliberate efforts must be made to craft the requisite cultural evolution.

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