Culture-Your Most Reliable Source of Truth

Culture is a hot topic right now.?

And it’s a hot topic for good reason.

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#Culture is the most reliable source of truth.??It is a foundational truth.??It is the common denominator.

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If you are a leader (Formal:??title and position,?Informal:??delegated power and by association) at any level what you accept, directly or indirectly, becomes the truth that you show up to every day and will be the foundation for stories that people tell themselves and others.??

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I want you to sit in this for a minute, or two, or three, or all the time.??YES!??You have that type of impact on your culture.??No matter how much analysis and planning you do, this will never change.??Your employee’s cultural foundation is already built before they accept the job offer and gets modified the second the offer is accepted.??To be indifferent to this is to be culturally negligent or willfully ignorant.

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It doesn’t matter what we try, transform, implement, execute, change….whatever it is divided by the existing culture=success or failure.???

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Culture Attempt/Existing Culture = success or failure

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Just like having valid and reliable data at our fingertips, if we pay attention to the culture that’s in place and/or take the time to understand what’s in place, if we show “acceptance”, we can predict the likelihood of the outcome of any effort we extend.????

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I will go as far as saying that the prediction will be almost 100% accurate.??

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If you make the time……

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During the #asq #leansixsigma conference, I took a training and we were discussing mindsets and worldviews.??I asked the instructor, “Is it a matter of changing what’s in place or accepting what’s in place?”??The instructor had a great answer because it spoke directly to the ambiguity that I believe leaders that have people under their care deal with.??They said, “It depends”. I empathize with this. I’ve experienced it.

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As much as I can relate to the instructor’s answer, I tend to lean on the idea that there’s more to this.??It’s also about acceptance of someone’s mindsets and worldviews before trying to change and influence it.??Acceptance, in this context, is defined as listening, hearing, agreeing where it makes sense, and disagreeing where it makes sense.??Yes, disagreement can be a form of acceptance.??It leads to partnership about finding a path forward for alignment, talking about where it doesn’t fit and why, and providing pathways for choice on what happens next.

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It’s more important to accept what’s in place than it is to change it.??Accepting what’s in place means acknowledging what people are seeing and experiencing, working with what you have and building on that, and finding a way for everyone to feel like they fit in.??Changing what’s in place is about defining what you see then pushing through a plan of conformity to address what you see.

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Acceptance or Conformity, what do you think will lead to a strong and sustained cultural foundation?

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Here’s what I’ve seen that acceptance gets you:

• Acknowledgement of past and current organizational trauma so people can heal
• People who will listen to you because you see them
• An opportunity to build bridges up, down, left, and right
• More inclusive and well-designed spaces for dialogue
• People who truly feel heard and safe
• Redefined stories that serve the sustainability of a healthy culture
• Successful efforts
• People can say what needs to be said

If you make the time……

The cultural denominator becomes so rock solid that no matter what you place on it your ideal culture can thrive.

The reality is, many times your people’s worldviews and beliefs about your organization and culture are fixed.??Your culture will thrive based on the actions of everyone not just messaging and actions from those in leadership roles.??These daily personal choices within the culture is the true culture change. Are you tapped in?

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Make the time….

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-Brian

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