Is There a Pattern for Business Success?

Over the last sixteen years I’ve had an incredible opportunity to work with many hospitals and health care facilities around the country. As you might imagine, some had very impressive performance and results while others were not so great.

Noticing the obvious discrepancies between performance and outcomes, I became curious. How could similar health care institutions have such drastically different results?

With this in mind I went about trying to figure out what made the difference between sustained success and inconsistent performance. Was there something I could put my finger on?

Some obvious choices such as location, size, and even aesthetics and technology didn’t seem to be the differentiator. In time, a simple pattern became clear.

The pattern looked like this:

Culture→Clinical→Financial

Health care facilities and hospitals that were able to create the right culture first were then able to attract and retain the best talent. With the best talent working for them (and a growing pipeline I might add), it then propelled them to achieve the best clinical outcomes. As you might guess, a great culture and great quality outcomes always led to sustained financial performance.

Leaders and organizations who followed this simple pattern thrived while those who did not always seemed to struggle.

Following the Pattern

Did this mean those who didn’t follow this pattern always performed poorly?

The answer is actually no. In fact, many savvy health care leaders could pull off a profitable month or quarter or perhaps even a year or two without following this pattern for success, but none were able to sustain that performance over an extended period of time. Without following the pattern, their profitability would eventually become erratic. 

On the contrary, health care organizations that followed this simple pattern tended to have prolonged, sustained financial success. Culture, clinical, financial in that order. First get the culture right which will help you attract and retain the right people. This will lead to better clinical outcomes. Better clinical outcomes will then lead to sustained financial success.

Breaking Down the Pattern for Success

Couldn't the pattern for success be a formula for success? Couldn’t it be stated Culture + Clinical = Financial?

The answer is no. The reason is because it doesn’t work.

One component of the pattern begets the other, so the order has significance. Culture plus clinical isn’t the right formula because you must start with a focus on culture first before you can get to the clinical. Spending an equal amount of resources on both components from the onset just doesn't work. It is a pathway to follow.

In other words, culture is the starter, clinical is the driver and financial is the finisher.

Having the right culture first then breeds great clinical results. Then, with both culture and clinical working in your favor, the sustainable financial always seems to follow.

Another way to look at the pattern would be: Starter→Driver→Finisher  

Industries Outside of Health Care

Why does this matter for industries other than health care? Obviously the “clinical” portion of the pattern wouldn’t apply to other industries. So, is there a pattern for other industries to follow?

The answer is yes. The trick is to figure out what may be the driver piece for your business or industry.

For many industries it is quality. So the pattern would look like this: 

Culture→Quality→Financial

For others it may be service. So the pattern might look like: 

Culture→Service→Financial

And for others the driver may be something entirely different.

The most important part of the pattern is the starter. The starter is the same for any industry. In order to really make an impact with the driver, it has to begin with the starter (culture).

Again the driver may represent different things for different organizations and industries however the pattern remains the same. Building the right culture will allow any business to attract and retain top talent. With top talent in place it will provide an organization with the opportunity to have the best outcomes for their driver. With a good culture and great driver results, sustained financial performance will follow.

Putting it to the Test

What is the success rate of this pattern?

In my experience in health care, this pattern seemed to work every time. A hospital or a health care facility that would focus on their culture first, then hone in on clinical outcomes and performance could then focus on and achieve sustained financial results. Start with the starter (culture), move to the driver (clinical), then to the finisher (financial). 

With the many variables and complexities that exist in the health care industry, having this kind of success rate indicates in other industries the results would be similar. Remember Culture→Driver→Financial, in that order.

What Does this Mean for Leaders?

This means that companies and leaders who first work on getting their culture right and then concentrate on improving driver results will be able to enjoy sustained financial success. It’s that simple. Or at least that simple in writing because it isn’t so easy to create the right culture in the real world. It takes discipline, focus, and a commitment to truly cultivating it. (More on this in minute.)

This doesn't mean a leader or a company should completely throw everything out the window when focusing on the starter than moving to the driver and proceeding to the finisher. You can't abandon fiscal responsibility or quality stewardship in your effort to only work on cultivating the right culture. There will always be standards and benchmarks and key metrics to uphold but the idea is how you allocate your time, energy, and resources. A disproportionate allocation should begin with establishing the right culture, then move to the driver, and finally culminate with the finisher.

Reordering the Pattern

What happens when the pattern is altered?

In my experience, most organizations and most leaders attempt to change or reorder the pattern to get results. Assuming quality is the driver, their approach looks more like this:

Financial→Quality→Culture   

or

Quality→Financial→Culture   

or

Financial→Culture→Quality 

or

Financial→Financial→Financial

When this happens, it is very difficult for a company to obtain sustainable results. The reason is because the business will eventually become mired down in staff turnover, recruitment needs, misalignment, confusion, constant retraining, etc. It is nearly impossible to sustain growth and results with inconsistency in staff. Sure the organization may achieve some level of financial success and quality but it will be impossible to sustain great results when the ability to retain and attract top talent runs out.  

History of the Pattern for Success

Is this pattern new?

Throughout history, there have been plenty of examples of this pattern and some are well-known and documented. Let’s take Chrysler for example. Under the direction of Lee Iacocca the company did an about-face and experienced a tremendous turnaround with stock soaring to 2.9 times the market at one point. Unfortunately, the turnaround was never sustainable because the pattern wasn’t followed and soon its stock price tumbled to 31% behind the general market.(1) 

There are also plenty of examples of those who have followed the pattern and had sustained success for a prolonged period of time. One example is Zappos. From inception, the founders of Zappos knew culture was important, so they strove to build a company where “everyone feels great.”(2) Following the pattern of success and focusing on the right culture first, Zappos was able to steadily grow annual sales from $1.6 million to nearly $1 billon eventually selling to Amazon for around $1.2 billion in 2009.(3)    

Again most organizations and most leaders do not follow this pattern and thus never attain the long-term result they hope for.

Establishing Culture

So Now What?

If following this pattern leads to business success, then the proverbial million-dollar question becomes how do I accomplish the first step? How does an organization establish the right culture? Is there also a formula or model or process for that?

Thankfully, again the answer is yes. It is called the Four C’s Model to Creating a Healthy Organizational Culture. (You can read more about this model by clicking here.)

If you are serious about sustained financial performance and achievement, follow the pattern for success. Remember to start with culture first, then move to driver results, and then you’ll enjoy sustained financial strength.

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Tim Burningham is author of "Be An Awesome Boss: The Four C's Model to Leadership Success", and president of The Center for Company Culture, a management consulting firm focused on obliterating job misery by creating healthy workplace cultures through The Four C's Model. You can learn more by visiting www.TheCenterforCompanyCulture.com.

 (1) Collins, Jim (October 16, 2001), “Good to Great.”

(2) Hsieh, Tony (April 16, 2012). “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.”

(3) Wauters, Robin (November 2, 2009). "Amazon Closes Zappos Deal, Ends Up Paying $1.2 Billion".