How Networks drive Culture Change

"Its aye been like that..."

Few habits are harder to break than “the way we do things around here.” In Scotland it was rife in the textile manufacturing industry (now almost gone as an industry, replaced by a cluster with strategic capabilities in of innovation, design and marketing) and is often referred to as 'aye been', which translated is broadly along the lines of "its always been like that, son; it might be OK when making baked beans, but it does not apply here; we tried that before and it did not work, and it never will." I am sure you have heard that before.

Organisational culture is notoriously difficult to change, in part because it reflects people’s values — their deeply held beliefs about what is good, desirable, and appropriate. Most employees learn about culture from informal conversations that signal who they should take seriously, what to care about, and “how we do things around here.”

Organisational Culture reflects People’s Values

Values are their deeply held beliefs about what is good, desirable, and appropriate — and are notoriously difficult to change, especially when colleagues are embedded in informal networks with people who share their values. But those same networks can help leaders identify and overcome obstacles to change.

Analysing the patterns of connection and collaboration in an organisation can help leaders see more precisely where desired behaviours are communicated, modelled, observed, and adopted on the ground. Relationships can complicate matters further. When colleagues are embedded in informal networks with others who share and reinforce their values, they often become entrenched rather than open to new attitudes and behaviours.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. Those same networks can also help leaders identify and overcome obstacles to cultural change and discover unexpected allies.

Network analysis can surface cultural influencers — in particular, those who prompt positive emotions in their colleagues, who excel at getting others to adopt desired cultural values. It can also provide insight into hidden tensions in order to resolve organisational conflict, and give leaders a better sense of how much time they must allow for a true cultural shift to take root. By overlaying survey data about individuals’ values onto network analysis, leaders can find and address obstacles to cultural change in their team or organisation.

Understand your Networks to gain Insight

Here are 5 ways in which network analysis can be focused:

1. Unearth the Sub-Cultures - culture is only partially influenced by formal organisational structures; it is also shaped and reinforced by subnetworks of employees who may represent one slice of a formal unit, for instance, or be spread across many different units.
2. Find your real Cultural Leaders - formal leaders do facilitate culture change, of course, but our work reveals that they don’t do it alone. Informal influencers deep inside the organisation are critical — but often hidden — enablers of change. Enlisting their help is far more efficient than taking a top-down approach.
3. Shine the light on Hidden Tensions - a renewed emphasis on culture, this time with the goal of making dissent and disagreement more constructive. A combination of network and cultural data uncovers two kinds of problems: (1) toxic misalignments, where cultural influencers with very different values interacted in negative and dysfunctional ways, and (2) unresolved standoffs, where cultural influencers had positive connections with one another but disagreed about fundamental cultural values.
4. Evoke Positive Emotions - traditional approaches to cultural change often assume that the process is rational: Leaders identify new values and educate employees about them, using anecdotes, examples, and compelling logic, in hopes of persuading them to commit to new ways of working. Our research and experience shows that culture spreads most effectively through network connections that have an emotional aspect. In particular, people who prompt positive emotions in their colleagues excel at getting others to adopt desired cultural values.
5. Give Adoption the Time it Needs - how long it takes to master new cultural norms or behaviours can vary by a surprising amount. Leaders may observe slow or uneven adoption as new cultural ideas’ failure to spread, when in fact it may be a function of how tacit or complex the values are. And while networks play an important role in speed of adoption, faster isn’t always better. Instant success takes time.

Who's Who in the Changing Rooms

When you understand where your people stand relative to the vision of success you, together with your 'band of brothers and sisters' can get to work to understand what lies behind individual or network attitudes and beliefs.

One of the best models and frameworks I have used is Nicola Phillips 'Changing Rooms'. She emphasises the importance of facilitating and moving networks and groups through the continuum from 'Comfort' to 'Growth and Renewal'. Identifying those in 'Denial' is also important, as they often shut the door rather than being persuaded to enter 'Confusion' before 'Growth and Renewal' with momentum. The trick is to continue repeating the whole circular process time and time again. Change is not a one-off process.

Winning Together

Combining network analysis with assessments of organisational culture provides leaders with a rich understanding of how new values take root. It gives them a more “local” view of culture — one where desired behaviours are communicated, modelled, observed, and adopted on the ground, not broadcast from on high. This perspective allows leaders to drive change in more targeted ways. They learn how new ideas and beliefs spread, who the real influencers are in their organisation, and how long the process can take — which makes it easier to propagate new values where they are needed and produce enduring outcomes.

Sources:

1. MIT Sloan Management Review: Use Networks to Drive Culture Change, Winter 2022
2. Nicola Phillips, Reality Hacking 2001