Culture Transformation: Timeline

How long does it take to transform an organization's culture?

A culture transformation, even one done on a smaller scale for only a single

department, will take several months, and for a company-wide one as long as

four years.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it always takes time for people to

understand what’s expected of them, then learn the new behaviors,

and then put them into practice. It’s this putting into practice which

can often extend the life of a transformation. For those involved in a culture

transformation not only must they internalize and fully understand how to

behave according to the new intentions, but they also need to understand how

to behave in several different situations and circumstances.

Be patient. Not everyone will learn and adapt at the same pace.

An individual may go to training to learn, but it is only in the practice and the

application of that learning that they fully grasp the implications and intent

behind the learning. Further, many people need to be convinced that the

organization is serious about the new behaviors before they will even begin to

consider adopting them. Often times people will “sit in the bleachers,” or “on the

fence,” and wait until they are sure that this new way of behaving will in fact

become the norm. They, in effect, assume that any initiative will be temporary,

and that it too will pass. As a result, it can be a number of months before they

fully commit to attempting to adopt new behaviors for themselves, let alone

master them.

It’s for this reason that those leading the transformation must be patient, and

recognize that it will take time.

The transformation also takes time because not everyone learns at the

same pace. Some learn more quickly than others, some adapt more quickly than

others, and with all the best intentions in the world some people are just simply

slower to pick up what is expected and begin to apply it.

In these circumstances, it is important not to judge all those individuals who are

slower on the uptake as unwilling, or fence-sitting as resisting the transformation.

Often it is simply that they have either not had an opportunity to actually apply

the new behaviors, or enough of an opportunity to use them consistently until

they have become habitual. Whatever the case, the learning will take time, and

management must allow individuals this time.

The third reason for the time required is that with any transformation

it is not simply one behavior that needs to change. Usually, there are

several things that are being addressed, and changing simultaneously. Each

of these must be learned, absorbed, internalized, and then applied. Hence, one

area of the transformation must be presented at a time, and explained, then time

given for that topic to be understood and applied. Then another presented, and

so on, until the full range of transformation issues have been covered.

It is understanding that a transformation is really going to require a considerable

number of things to change which causes those responsible to set aside a

number of years for the transformation to occur. Individuals need to learn for

themselves how to behave in the new world, how to interact with others, how

to interact with those they lead or are led by, and how to interact with customers,

either internal or external. The need to learn how to use new forms, policies,

procedures, or metrics, and how and where to take initiative. This is a lot to

absorb in the course of the normal activity of the job. For a real transformation to

occur each of these topics needs to be covered, and then time given before the

next topic is presented. Then once each topic has been covered, time needs to

be allowed for them to gel into an integrated whole so that individuals can see

how they all work together and are interconnected.

With this understanding those acting as architects for the transformation can then

lay out a plan, and set aside the time required for it to happen.

Once the behaviors are in place, and the organization is feeling the benefit, then

a focus has to be on maintaining these new behaviors, and staying the

course until they become habitual within the company.

As an example, if I were to pour a glass of water on the carpet it

would darken it, and the carpet would appear stained. However,

when I return 24 hours later the water will have evaporated

and the stain would have vanished. On the other hand, if I pour

a bottle of Indian ink on the carpet, it would also appear to be

stained; but in this case, when I return in 24 hours or 24 months,

the stain will still be there. A culture transformation needs to have

the same long-term impact as the India ink, and creating that

level of permanence takes time.