Here are some of the stages of organizational culture change as we aim for a top notch, all-in, passion and loyalty to a greater purpose.  Let’s start with the basic bottom though every organization finds itself at different starting points. 

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Blame/Victim Culture - In this culture phase, trust has been diminished, if it ever existed. It’s a echo chamber of “it’s not my fault” and “it’s not my job”. Even innovators are afraid to do anything because they are paralyzed by fear.

 

Disconnected Parts Culture - This is an example where the sum of the parts are not equal to the whole. There is some cohesiveness and collaboration in some areas of the company, and some cross-departmental relationships, but oftentimes the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. This is the land of “copy and reply all”. Every department is basically its own country, if you will, with its own laws and rules of conduct. Everyone has their directives and no one really cares how they interrelate. There is very little cooperation, a lot of frustration, and a splintered purpose. Clearly, everyone is on a different page despite ultimately being part of the same organization.

 

Good Enuf Culture - Excellence Or Mediocrity: Good Is The Enemy Of Great. There’s some good here, but sales and processes and branding and leadership and attitudes, are basically just happy enough. No one is empowered or driven to make anything better, bigger, brighter. Complacency rules. A life and organization of mediocrity results in never really feeling the potential of being extra valuable or extra successful. 

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Conscious Culture- We’re close here - but there is one flaw. This is a brand or product-centric culture, with all the purpose and service behind that one idea, one product or service. Great to the degree that it serves the customer’s needs, notsogreat to the degree that the internal pride is based on that deliverable held in great esteem, rather than the meaning of the work creating that deliverable. Employees are excited to tell others about what they do because of the ego they carry associated with the product. Yes, they’re proud and excited and as such, there is a lot of innovation and creativity around it. Our if that product were to slide in demand or be sold or come under scrutiny, the pride would be short lived. Around the deliverable the team has pride in what they’re doing and there is more innovation because they always want to improve. They are invested in the organization because they are fueling a shining star. People are interested in tangibles but not the esoteric. 

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Leadership Culture: This is the prized highest level of organizational culture and it isn't what you think. I bet you thought this was a leadership driven purpose culture, didn't you? Nope. Here, the leaders are committed to developing other leaders by checking their egos at the door. Everyone is committed to the overall objective they are trying to achieve and this gives the opportunity for EVERYONE in the organization to have a sense of value, and sense of the possibilities for their career.  Here EVERYONE is invested in the success of the company from the mailroom on up. Think of it, the organization ecstacy in the opportunity that a guy in the mailroom with a really great idea has the ear of management and people that can make it a reality. Even a new hire has autonomy to take charge of a project if they are more expert than even perhaps  the CEO.   The leadership culture cultivates  leaders rather than employees. 

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Perhaps you've tried different training or motivational culture initiatives that haven’t worked, or worked for only a weekend but weren’t sustainable. Simply, engagement isn’t there. Culture change cannot be a top-down initiative. 8 people at the top telling 1000 people what to believe, think and value doesn’t make sense. The key?  A bottom-up initiative whereby 1000 people who interact daily, know how to solve problems and are in the field daily are given a voice and with trust, real change occurs.  The tools needed for these global cultural changes are a great purpose, a methodology, a common language, a unified identity and a supportive environment. 

 

Inspired Action at Work creates the foundation for each of these tools needed for global cultural change in organizations.