What to Do When it’s Cold Inside
Like fire, an untended culture grows cold, dark, ugly, and useless.
When you look in the organizational-mirror, do you like what you see? You can.
Love:
A regional medical facilities mission statement begins, “To extend God’s healing love…” It’s impossible to extend love to outsiders (patients) unless insiders are extending love to each other. I’d love to be part of an organization where the people aspire to love each other. Wouldn’t you?
Culture is the product of the way people treat each other with organizational purpose in mind.
Inside:
Culture emerges from inside people, not furniture or fresh paint. An unused ping-pong table in the break room reminds everyone that fun is not allowed.
- Purpose fuels culture.
- Purpose guides culture.
- Behaviors express and create culture.
Culture-building-behaviors are:
- Fully aligned with organizational purpose.
- Clearly observable. If you can’t see it, it doesn’t matter.
- Profoundly simple. If it’s complicated or difficult, it won’t get done.
- Cheerfully honored by everyone.
Clarify organizational purpose – your “why” – and build culture around it.
Culture building brings your “why” inside your organization. For example:
- Educational institution, in order to be consistent, must treat employees like students. When they want students to work hard and have fun, but don’t have fun themselves, culture disconnects from purpose.
- Churches, who extend grace to the world, must extend grace to each other.
- Financial institutions, who build trustworthy relationships with customers and distrust employees, grow cold, eventually.
- Social service organizations who put on smiles for clients and frowns for each other grow dark and useless.
Nutshell:
Culture building is identifying language and behaviors that express your purpose and repeating them over and over within your organization.
How are hot organizational cultures built and maintained?
Resources:
“Start with Why,” Simon Sinek
“The Culture Engine,” Chris Edmonds
“Culture,” Dr. David Vik
Dear Dan,
I agree that language and behavior express the purpose of people and repeating it creates culture. One can easily sense the culture type based on what works in the system. When people repeat particular behavior, it is important to compare the behavior. And alignment of that behavior provides clue about the working culture. If we go by analogy, cold culture is passive and people become unenthusiastic. It is not necessary that all the people become unenthusiastic, there are many who become enthusiastic. There will be people who create such culture solely for self-centric motive. As long as they get what they want, they enjoy it and expect others to follow it. Those who question it, either sidelined or viewed negatively.
And it is important to take away such people. While it looks simple, it is very challenging. It needs will and courage especially from the top. When management want to create hot culture, it provides scope and people tend to follow it. They get encouragement but when management believe in supporting cold culture, generally people prefer to bear it silently.
No more hiding. Make the world a better place . . .
Sorry, Ajay! I get the “Reply” button wrong about 50% of the time! : /
Love your thought “language and behavior express the purpose of people and repeating it creates culture.” We have to work on PURPOSE if we want the culture to be better. My belief is that this purpose starts young.
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No more hiding. Make the world a better place . . .
Dan,
While culture is created within an organization, it’s purpose is ultimately external. All too often we view culture as an internal “end” of organizational life, instead of a “means” to the real “end”.
Peter Drucker said that, “The purpose of a business is to create and service a customer.”
The purpose of a culture is to 1) attract and engage the talent neededto deliver on a promise to customers and 2) nurture the thinking and behaviors thatpromote the longevity of the organization.
If you are not doing these things, your culture is failing (evidenced by the examples you offer).
Thanks!
Dan,
The examples were very helpful in this article:
“Educational institution, in order to be consistent, must treat employees like students. When they want students to work hard and have fun, but don’t have fun themselves, culture disconnects from purpose.”
-> Many universities do well here by providing free classes and degree programs; that is a way to observe culture at work.
“Financial institutions, who build trustworthy relationships with customers and distrust employees, grow cold, eventually.”
-> There are other pressures at play (e.g. regulatory agencies and audits) that suggest distrust to a degree. How would you address that point in finance?
This is an outstanding post, Dan. I particularly like “Culture is the product of the way people treat each other with organizational purpose in mind.” Shared values are so important to organizational culture and are so often neglected. Everyone has his or her own sense of those values, but it is hugely beneficial for the organization to re-identify and confirm those values together from time to time.
What an inspirational way to start my day: a mug of hot coffee and LF. Best regards.
This makes sense to me, because I often hear where people choose not to go somewhere because there is fighting within the company.
Dan, you posted this excellent blog on November 14. And, only five persons have responded. Of those, how many were in leadership positions? Do leaders consider internal culture – eg. language and behavior – to be a hands-off topic? One about which they don’t want to be asked, or held accountable?
We have a tradition in our family: We practice what we preach. We treat each of our employees/ teammates/crew members to treat EACH OTHER RIGHT. Even when they’ve retired, resigned, or been terminated.
They mentor and support each other. They cover each other’s back. Then, they gladly treat and serve hotel/inn guests, restaurant and store customers, church members and visitors, construction company clients, university visitors, etc. with respect, wit, honesty, and selflessness.
Well made points, Samantha. I appreciate your reference to “Full Steam Ahead”
Bob sometimes this can indeed be a hands off topic, which seems ridiculous. I’m so sick of the “cover your @$$” culture of the military and many organizations that would give lip service to the idea of fun respectful culture but immediately retreat behind covering themselves.
There’s nothing to cover if you’re effective and efficient
Another good topic to explore Dan.
The question that comes up is, ‘How do we rekindle love where’s it’s been snuffed out?’ (or in some cases…never existed in the 1st place? because some orgs are ‘dead’ from the start if the motives are based on greed etc)
At the core of the way we treat one another is our beliefs. I realize that may even come across as cliche these days yet it really does have a great deal to do with our behaviors towards one another.
Example:
Our beliefs about gender.
How we define respect.
Lack of gratitude and appreciation.
A sense of entitlement
Having no fear of consequences. (taking for granted)
And many others, all play a role in our behaviors and ultimately our culture.
Although it’s been awhile since I’ve read it, a book that immediately came to mind after reading your post is the one by Jesse Lyn Stoner >> Full Steam Ahead.
I remember that in her book, the leader of the company really was the one who set the tone each week with specific, intentional behaviors and inspiration.
When each department had a stake in creating the vision for their own department, they were better able to own and uphold the vision.
So this also plays a big role in cultural dynamics.
Ultimately, we all bring something to the table in our orgs and families. And no one can provide what they don’t have.
So that leads to the question, how do we restore or revive or uncover what people may have lost or no longer had?
Great post Dan. Thanks for sharing.
Dan, I absolutely love the topic of culture that you have been touching on. Culture is so important!
I regularly see teams and executives jump to action without paying sufficient attention to the culture that produces action. Then there is the leader who works with culture to produce the right action. The former is efficient. The latter is effective.