Culture is a process
Culture is a collaborative mindset. As someone who came to the US abruptly in my 20s, adapting to the US culture was not really a choice. Visiting another family when you're a kid, another colleague or manager. I believe most of the time people struggle with their identity when they are faced with a culture where they don't seem to "fit", but most importantly, they just refuse to try to fit. They may perceive it as surviving temporarily, or having to change who they are. For me culture is not about who you are: it's simply a bundle of biases that come from your past experience and where you come from. Which makes them easy to change if you're aware of them.
- Culture and Process are Close Friends
- It's not about character
- Write. And write it again
A change in culture is simply a way to learn, open your mind, and work as a team.
Getting the personal out
- Culture and Process are Close Friends. In my opinion, any culture and mindset expectation has to be as clear as a process. Meaning it's first leading to the outcome. If the culture expectation has no measurable benefit, why would someone even entertain to do things differently. Different cultures may have a strong impact, as long as a team is aligned. Be it a religious belief or an office, what is the overall mission and belief behind that culture? Make sure that's clearly set for your team.
- It's not about character. Giving examples of a successful mindset applied within a team and what was the measurable outcome for that team. The message is simple: together, being aligned on that mindset, we can achieve more. And that mindset has been clearly communicated. There is no room for solo-players. It's not about a specific person's character, but more about his skill to observe and work as a team.
- Write. And write it again. I've noticed most things said are being taken as a conversation, an informal discussion, and within multiple discussions, we each take something different out of the words being said. The formality of writing it down, multiple times, is what makes it formal and digestible. Let your team repeat it, let your team write it in their own words. Embrace and enforce that culture in their day to day process, making it their own.
Why it is hard
Culture is seen as emotional expectation or a character trait. Breaking that bias is the hard task.
What changed
When the emotional gets translated to a measurable objective, that's the only way to enforce a culture.
You need to believe
I always find that believing that things can get better and will get better extremely helpful to actually make them better. Why couldn't we? There are many paths towards that, and accusing the present state won't help us do so. I thought about using the word faith, but I am ending up with a hint at Ted Lasso ;)
I've been faced by opinions, with doubt, with laughs. Why would it work next time. Well, why not? I know for sure that if we don't try, it won't. That's the truth I know, and that makes it easy to continue moving forward.