How To Move From a Five Percenters Culture To A We Culture

It is very sad to talk about a We Culture when incidents like the recent massacres in New York, California and Texas occur. But unfortunately, these events continue repeatedly, showing that we, as a society, still have a lot of work to do to behave as a We Culture.

The Five Percenter system

One of the problems starts with our measuring system: how we evaluate our students and continue evaluating them as grown-ups when they are part of businesses and organizations.

This is “The five percenter system”, as I recalled hearing it on the “Boss Baby” series (mom spoiler alert!). Only 5% of “perfect” babies deserved all the love and care, while the rest should just work to maintain the system that favors this 5%. Unfortunately, this is?how most organizations build their performance review systems ?in real life. The top 5% get all the attention, the best rewards and the most opportunities, the 85-90% that are considered average, receive some of the options and are considered interchangeable or don’t need a planned career path, and the other 5-10% are deemed unfit and invited to leave. Could this be the reason why we are showing more than?40% attrition annually ?

This system only prepares human beings to fight or fly at work instead of preparing them to live in a community and help each other.

The 90% could also become great performers if given more opportunities to show their particular strengths. Would it be bad to have all team members in a team of 10, working at their best, instead of having only 1? Should not this be the objective of every team, to have all or at least most all, great performers? And what about the 5%, would it be possible for this one last person to make a difference too?

They could indeed, for good, bring a different idea, a different perspective. Like the “Steve Jobs” or the “Elon Musk.” But also, they could feel so frustrated and isolated and become the bad apple in the team draining everyone else’s energy or, unfortunately, committing a crime.

These bottom five percenters are the ones that should be offered the most help and support, to understand where they are and why. Empathize with them, and coach them as long as they want to get better. Everyone has something good to offer, and we as a society should strive to find what that good thing is, beyond race, gender or title. I have seen many times as a coach how the “worst student” becomes the smartest, the most motivated or even the best suited to lead others.

Instead of giving all the support to the leaders, build the leaders’ capacities so that they can support their teams to?intentionally design a culture that enables everyone to achieve results. A fair measurement and a?1-on-1 coaching support system ?are some of the pieces to drive engagement, innovation, quality and agility. Great results cannot come only from the five top percenters. There should not be such discrimination at work only based on a handful of characteristics, as everyone should be able to contribute with their capacity without feeling “average” or “the worst.” There are many other ways to evaluate performance without minimizing the workers’ efforts. Learn more about other ways by reading chapter 5 “Understand and Share the Whys Behind Goals and Performance Metrics” of my book?We Culture, 12 skills to growing teams in the future of work.

Remember that the person we are living behind can make a difference. Start by helping everyone around you do their best without being competitive, judgmental or attached to them. Build a We Culture wherever you are. We all deserve it.?

Check how your team is doing to become a We Culture by taking this?We Culture self-assessment .

Help your team make a mind shift from Me-centric thinking to We-centric thinking and become a We Culture champion!

Buy the?We Culture book

Book a?Coaching session

The?We Culture Certification ?launches on June 16, join the?waiting list !

Take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent how you work, and enjoy it!

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