Culture is a shared pattern among a group of people, a set of habits define the way we do things and relate to one another. Culture is also a key driver of change.
A little while ago, my son had conjunctivitis the first time in his life. Convincing him to use the eye drop, when he’s most scared of water getting into his eyes, seems like mission impossible. What I have found successful and relevant are implementing these 4 steps
- Bring future to now: I showed him videos of untreated eyes with conjunctivitis, so he can visualise the future consequences.
- Relate the change to the existing experience: I told him putting eye drops in his eyes is just like tears going back to his eyes
- Minimum the dose: I would put tiny drops, even if it?didn’t?get to his eyes, to reduce the sense of anxiety
- Praise and affirm: Once it’s done, I told him “you were so brave!?Isn’t?it just like tears going back to your eyes??It’s?not scary after all.”
After these 4 steps, I was able to do more changes and treat his eyes effectively.
- Observe: let the culture get into you. This is something hard to do, especially for people who are passionate about making an impact.
- Find a crack: it will make you uncomfortable, you cannot name it but it makes you uncomfortable
- Make art openly: shape your ideas and changes with people around you, in public
- Find the others who find the cracks: people with sense of humour, unpredictable people. They can make the change journey more enjoyable and less serious.
- Catalyse: organise something informal. Remember it’s a culture change, not a policy enforcement
- Create language: visual language, sound language, body language, and put a name on it
- Replicate the new pattern: if it’s working, spread the culture and practice beyond your immediate group
- Let go your brain child: culture always change with more people and time. So let others build on top of it
- Go back to step 1
