Spotting Organizations That Thrive On Change

Part V Of My Series On "Change: Thrive On It Or Put it In The Tip Jar"

It’s easy to see, smell, feel or just imagine this kind of culture in companies like Amazon, Apple,, Zappos,, Lego, etc. -- most created and run by bigger than life visionaries.

But it’s not just these iconic companies; it is also Brad’s Cycle Shop, Bob’s Red Mill, New Seasons Market and thousands of other lesser-known companies.

• These are companies where employees honestly say more often than not, “I Love My Job” from the top to the bottom of the organization. You can see it in their faces when you ask, “How’s work?” That doesn’t mean they always love the task at hand but fundamentally they like the culture of the company they work for.
• These are companies that have a culture of collaboration and a structure that supports innovation with an “always open to listen” tone set by the folks that run the place.

Many companies strive to create this kind of culture but then when the going gets rough, they lose it, resorting to the traditional Machiavellian model.

It’s the great ones that remain steadfast when times are tough because the people who run them have it hardwired into their DNA and they pass it on so that it becomes the company culture.

• You can feel it in C Suite Meetings. – These executives respect and trust each other. Rather than critic or question each other’s ideas, they talk passionately about opportunities to grow the business and build on each other’s ideas?
• You can hear it in team meetings - These people like working together. They trust each other. They do not merely wait their turn to report out on the status of their projects, they provide feedback, building on each other’s ideas and soliciting input on their efforts. Trusting their colleagues to critique your work is a clear sign that a team respects, trusts and likes working with one another.
• You can see it when you walk the halls – the next time you walk the halls of your organization what do you see? Do you see people look up and smile or do you see people keep their heads down with an oh so serious, dare I say, worried look on their faces? Do they look cautiously optimistic or recklessly disillusioned?
• You can experience it in the energy or electricity generated by all the people in the organization. Every organization gives off energy or electricity; it is in the air. In this kind of a place it feels positively charged.

In the end, we all have the power to create the kind of places we want to work, places we look forward to going to and work we love to do. Places where we embrace “What if?, “Go for it.” and “Just do it and see what we learn”. We just have to do it.

A London School Of Economics professor, Sumantra Ghoshal, quite aptly and graphically described a similar notion as “The Smell Of The Place”. His talk at the World Economic Summit in Davos well over a decade ago using the metaphor of the smell of Calcutta in summer vs. the smell of Fountain Bleu in Spring sums it all up for me. He also gives tangible examples of the differences between companies where Constraints, Compliance, Controls and Contracts are the reigning values vs. companies where Stretch, Self -Discipline, Support and Trust reign supreme. His research shows that companies can create and sustain this kind of environment for long periods of time.

In the area of compliance vs. self-discipline there is also a lot of academic research that shows that if you draw a line in the sand and tell people not to cross it they will try to cross it. But if you tell people it is wise to stay away from an area but to use their own judgment they will actually curtail their behavior to an area well inside where you would have drawn that line. * This is the difference between empowering and inspiring people vs. commanding and controlling them – people don’t want to be controlled, they want to be inspired.

If you do nothing else after reading this, watch Professor Ghoshal’s video on You Tube. While the quality of the video is crude his words are inspiring.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUddgE8rI0E 

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Finally,

• I don’t mean this to sound like creating a cult. But I do mean that creating and sustaining a culture that thrives on change requires emotional intelligence.
• I don’t mean to suggest that your organization should always be in flux fanatically searching for new ways to disrupt its industry -- that would just be chaos. On the contrary, as I have tried to point out, it takes real self-discipline and clear processes to be an organization that thrives on change, an organization that can channel the shock of something new into meaningful growth opportunities. As I have alluded to before the decision to keep on doing what you have always have done vs. evolve and change are “what” decisions; the decision to do so employing well thought out structures vs. doing it at random (just disruption) is a “How” decision – my vote will always be for structured change.
• I also don’t mean all of this to sound like it will be easy or that everyone will always buy in. No it’s real work to create and sustain this kind of culture and it takes trust and respect to accept advice and criticism from others. The scrutiny that new ideas / initiatives get in this kind of environment is tough, probably tougher and more honest and frank than in others – in this type of environment people don’t just hear you out, they want to engage with you and your ideas. BUT, the difference is that in this kind of environment this tougher kind of scrutiny is deemed OK. In fact it is expected and welcomed, because at the end of the day everyone respects and trusts each other. People in these organizations don’t take it personally. It’s about the work and how they work together to lean forward into the future, learning from mistakes and celebrating success – embracing evolution and thriving on change.

You will know it when you experience it. You feel exhilarated; you feel part of a team, a team that is constantly moving forward and moving forward together. And it doesn’t get much better than that!

If I can ever help your organization better thrive on change please let me know.