What is culture? (no matter for company, society or your family)
Alvin Leung
Performance Consultant who believes in people's potential and possibilities! | HR Consultant, Corporate Trainer, Leadership Coach
I was asked in one sales pitch by a CEO of a client when presenting my proposal of a "cultural change program."
"Hey Alvin, Stop! Before you present anything, just let me know one thing. WHAT IS CULTURE? Asked CEO.
... My consultants and client solution colleagues were all staring at me...
"Culture is COLLECTIVE THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOUR," said I.
People would like to build a unique set of values in many companies or groups (e.g., associations, institutes, society, or even families). It represents the US and provides a sense of belonging and loyalty. And with that, it is believed that people in that group would be easier to align their day-by-day work steps since the direction is identical.
However, I don't believe "culture" is invisible and vague, such as set-values. When you step into company A and company B, you will be able to SEE and HEAR very differently since how people behave and how they talk (i.e., how they express their thoughts) would be very different. This is exactly what culture is!
After all, the key is building and fostering that unique collective behavior. I wish the following would serve as a simple guideline.
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Some organizations aim for short-term goals, immediate result attainment, and the maximum shared benefit among the group. I will not comment that it is wrong. It could be a direction, but at the same time, never be complaining about why people keep on leaving, and in the end, even such a concrete goal could not be sustained! Fundamentally, people only work for money. Remember, people in the future will work for what money can bring. Some are for feeling safe since they would be able to wear what their peers wear and go to the restaurant their peers go to. Some are for having a sense of being looked up to. With a charming watch brought with money and gorgeous handbags got money, they could feel that they were different from others. But yet, some people use their money to invest their knowledge; some use their money to help others in need. Short-term money will never equal long-term and sustainable value. Ultimately, humankind needs the significance behind it, and everyone wants to have a maximized life value at the end, which means extending one's value to contribute to others.
As for myself, I decided to establish a "learning culture" for my people since it expands and extends people's value when they grow. You can select the value you and your team would agree on.
In my example, learning culture is about "self-awareness/reflection" and an "open culture to share." For these two more concrete level conditions, I insist on asking my people, "what do you think our performance just now? What we could do differently to make the result even better next time?" after every client meeting. I insist on letting people post their little reflections on work/life or any thought on our communication platform. I urge monthly review meetings and 360-degree performance feedback with my people every quarter. Because I believe that when we can insist on doing the same thing over time, we will transform our conscious behavior into our unconscious habit. If you think that it would be hard to immediately reflect own performance after each client meeting on the first day; if you think it would be not easy to do self-reflection after challenging work every day; if you believe that in front of so many people to review about your performance in the past month would be harsh in the beginning, it is all right! You will never be ready to do anything new; you can only do it until you get ready. You would prefer to start doing things other than overdoing things; you can only start it over to feel like doing so!
But please don't take me wrong. My biggest insistence on myself is "TO DO IT ALL MYSELF NON-NEGOTIABLY"! Our actions would be much louder than our voices.
Folks, building the right culture requires you to be competent in focusing on human factors rather than your own purpose; it requires you to get the buy-in from your people technically. But fostering a culture requires your genuine leadership, NOT TO BLAME. If you believe so, actualize yourself!
Alvin Leung