"It's the Secret Sauce"

My exceptional colleague, Michael W. , and I were evaluating the successes and failures of our work in 2023 as measured by the success of our clients. We are a consultancy, after all, and if our clients aren't successful, neither are we.

One of the main differences in our approach vs others is the wholistic way we approach culture change. Training events are but a mere part of a strategy, yet for so many it's really all that's sold and focused on. The latter is easier, of course. You buy training, check off how many attended, and call it a day. You don't actually get much in the way of results, but you can say you 'did something.' Those organizations that have achieved real success by avoiding the "training flavor this year" approach know that transforming culture is much more complex. So if you're in the latter camp, the rest of this article is for you.

A strategy for culture change involves training, workshops, and coaching, but much of the real work is done in what I call the 'whitespace' of the plan. One of the key elements of success often espoused is that a change effort needs executive sponsorship. That's absolutely true, but yet still insufficient. We've seen too many organizations fail to achieve their potential even with a supportive leader. There's too much work to be in the whitespaces across the entire organization.

When we looked back across all our clients and examined where the greatest organizational health and performance gains were made, the client with 'secret sauce' was the one with a robust steering group made up of people who represented various disciplines and levels throughout the organization. It's a place where Mr Jones from sterile services and Dr Jones, chief of radiology, were on the same level - each giving input as to how best to market, communicate, deploy, and employ the philosophy and tools throughout the organization. Their 'grassroots' involvement helps ensure that the culture change strategy is something "for" the employees rather than a "requirement of" employees. Together, the group creates one of our fundamental principles in strategy design - to create an environment where people are inspired to engage vs required to engage - and that makes all the difference.