Oh please - not another article on Corporate Culture

Insert a heavy sigh, an exaggerated yawn, or a cynical eye roll here.

That was my first reaction when the July - August edition of HBR landed with - ‘Build a Corporate Culture That Works’ plastered on the front cover. Another yawn at the sub-title - ‘How to ensure that your organisation can execute on strategy’. So many articles have been written like this over the years; and as a self-professed culture nerd, I have read most of them.

"This will probably be another one that talks to high level theories and frameworks which are interesting but leave you hanging on real & practical applications within today's modern workplace".

My initial thought when flicking through this month's HBR was ‘I’m not reading it - too busy - got more urgent and important stuff going on.’

There’s something about the touch of the white gloss and the bold black font of the cover of HBR that draws me in, and to be completely candid, the image of the three little yellow ducks, with their eyes looking upwards and their orange beaks, open swimming in the water cooler was a cute beacon.

So, the curious part of me won out, always searching for the good stuff, I dove in, and I'm so glad I did.

The article is a cracker. (link at the end)

It was written by Erin Meyer, a Professor at INSEAD. You may also know her as the author of The Culture Map (2014) and co-author of No Rules Rules (2020).

“Build a Corporate Culture That Works: Start by thinking about the dilemmas your people will face.”

In short Professor Meyer articulates six simple guidelines to help when navigating through the challenges of culture building. In it she draws on her consulting and advisory work as well as her academic work

The general thrust of the message to culture custodians and builders is to move away from abstract principles and absolutes - (what those in the traditional HR world might call the standard set of one-word or two-word "wall values" - Trust, Respect, Accountability (cynical eye roll creeps in again)) - and move toward statements that help resolve real-life day to day practical dilemmas for your people.

Insightful stuff.

Here’s a quick taste of three of Meyer’s six guidelines. I’ll be back with the remaining three next month.

Build your culture on real world dilemmas rather than absolutes:

"One of the biggest mistakes companies make when articulating their desired organizational culture is to focus on abstract absolute positives (integrity, respect, trust, and so on). Take integrity. Virtually all leaders want their employees to behave with it. Indeed, there is really no credible alternative to integrity as an articulated value. Never have I come across an organization that said, “In this company, we are all about corruption".

‘Consider those moments when your employees face critical decision-making dilemmas, vigorously debate potential responses, and create value statements that will clearly guide employees’ actions.’ “In this company, when we come across this dilemma, we turn left”— your desired culture will take root and influence the behavior of the team. The article goes on to outline a great example.

I note there are always options, multiple variables and paths people can take. The right option for a "dilemma" at your company will be informed by the culture you wish to create and the values you have defined. These dilemmas bring this to life in a crisp and simple manner. Get this right and your people will shape the culture and outcomes much more easily and moreover - consistently, which is important to do at scale.

Move your culture from abstraction to action:

Whether you are building corporate culture from scratch, rebuilding it on a major scale, or refining it on a minor scale - ‘dilemma-test your abstract principles to determine whether they are actionable enough to be useful in real decision-making situations.’ Help guide your people with the real-world choices they will routinely have to make at work. Here's an example of a company acing the dilemma test.

Consider Amazon’s value statement: “Have a backbone: Disagree and commit.” The second part was coined by a cofounder of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy, in the 1980s, and together the six words help Amazon employees resolve actual dilemmas. For example: Your boss is considering three designs for a new ad campaign. You hate the design that she is leaning toward. Should you tell her and make your case against it? Option A: Yes! State your position as clearly and persuasively as possible. Option B: No! You don’t want to risk irritating your supervisor or ruining your relationship with her. Which should you choose? The value “Have a backbone” clearly guides your response: Speak up and make your case.

Paint your culture in full colour:

You’ve arrived at a clear set of dilemmas tested values or cultural statements. Meyer’s proposition then is to ‘articulate them using concrete colourful images to get them to stick’. It’s here where you might opt for edgy and counterintuitive. (think Airbnb’s elephants, dead fish and vomit) What the heck is that you say?? Here's the link that gives you the down low on Airbnb's approach How To Build The Most Customer-Focused Culture In The World ( forbes.com ) Either way - intuitive or counterintuitive - the aim is to influence human behaviour in the real world that is your organisation.

This article and research are staying right at the top of my "saved favourites" list, and I'll be back next month to share the next three guidelines. If you can't wait though, here's the link below.

Build a Corporate Culture That Works ( hbr.org )

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#culture #transformation #values #dilemma