My step-by-step method for changing organisational culture (without a 'big bang' launch of any kind)

The only way to change a complex system is to interact with it. And that's how I approach the ultimate complex system: organisation culture 

 

It's part of corporate psyche to go big. "We are a big company. We need a big change. Let's plan a big launch in six months time!"

The idea is to think really carefully and do something large enough to have an impact. The reality is, we can’t know for sure what impact our proposed changes will have - large or small, positive or negative.

It's a very normal, human instinct to try to predict from a distance. And there's no doubt that planning, research and thinking are part of the story. 

But, the fastest way to understand and improve a system is to quickly get to the point where you are interacting WITH the system. And out in the 'wild' that's how things change.

Only yesterday, Greg Satell on LinkedIn commented "Ideas about change are propagated through social networks. People adopt what they see working around them, not what is broadcast to them"

Movements are not started by big launches. They are social trends which start and snowball based on complex and unpredictable factors. 

|  Pivotal moments in system change can only be spotted with hindsight.

So what should we do when we want to have a big impact on a big complex system like organisational culture and ways of working - but we are working within the standard budgeting, planning and reporting timelines that define more corporate initiatives?

There's no one way - but here's the FrictionFree way! 

 

I start with Carrie-flavoured discovery 

Hopefully every culture change starts with discovery of some flavour. Here's mine.

Solid quant

Most organisations need some numbers - for that I would use an indicator to put a line in the sand and . My own Collaboration Culture Indicator is a great place to start and allows companies to benchmark what emerge as strengths and weaknesses against other organisations like them. 

Revealing qual

The real insight comes from the qual research. I take a cross org, cross-'type' sample and talk to 10-20 people in depth. I elicit data a similar approach the design of my PhD method(1), so in brief, based on contextual enquiry (asking people to describe real and specific experiences they have had in detail rather than asking their opinion about something) and drawing out systems understanding through probing further and wider into those experience. 

I analyse all of this to create a compelling story - an understanding of where that company is and the system that's playing out. I will use key visuals, metaphors and stories to anchor our work and enable us to move into the NEXT chapter in that story, in a way that makes sense to everyone. 

Stores bring a systems approach to life and help everyone move forward in a similar, aligned way.

Remember, all systems pictures and stories are wrong, but some are useful.... (2)

What I'm looking for:

- real world evidence of the system

- stories to tell

- and crucially, the biggest problems people care about AKA the entry points to the system (more on this later)

 

Then I look for natural 'unfreeze' moments

Systems all come with built in moments when they are particularly open to change. 

Re-orgs

A new financial year

New projects

New strategy

M&A 

etc

The freeze-change-refreeze model is commonly associated with Kurt Lewin's theory of change. It's a simple model that emphasises how organisations are held in a semi-static state by opposing forces which make them resistant to change. The theory is that you need to unfreeze them by establishing a clear need for urgent change - THEN you can make the change and refreeze.

My argument is that most systems have their own natural unfreeze moments where shifts are welcome and much more possible. They occur all the time and we can grab them and use then for good, rather than 'manually' unfreezing which is more difficult and artificial.

 

I start 'small' and experiment with solving the most pressing problem

It can feel not worth the effort and expense to do something 'small'.

We are big! The problem is big! We need a big bang!

Nothing could be further from the truth.
We are trying to mirror how social change happens in the wild.

And experiments don't need to be at small scale or small impact. Though the bigger the impact, the more easily reversible an experiment needs to be. 

Small means small in scope, so one thing at a time. This way you're not overwhelming or asking too much of people, you can start sooner and with less planning, you can observe the outcome more clearly and improve on the solution quickly.

And the best place to start is with what has come up as an important problem in the discovery work. I'm looking for a pipeline of candidate problems which are significant enough to be worth addressing and that people truly care about. 

Then we find the simplest way to start solving them, experiment by experiment. 

This is the entry point to the system. Solve one problem well and you have a shot at the snowball effect you're looking for.

I'll try to find and get behind people doing something already

If you are someone who is already facing in the right direction and swimming upstream against the cultural tide by doing things differently, there is nothing worse that a leader or consultant suddenly telling everyone to do the thing you've been trying to do on your own for some time, as if they invented it!

The first place I start is to find people with the mindset and actions that we are looking to shift towards - invite them in, understand their experiences and amplify what they are already doing, before trying to build on it. 

If I haven't already found them in discovery, I'll go looking again.

They are ultimately going to drive the social change. I need them, I need the learning they already have and I definitely don't want to p*** them off by mistake before we've even started.

I find a top down signal 

Starting small and experimenting doesn’t mean it’s only bottom up.
Elise Keith reminded me the other day that emergent behaviour change happens best when both top down and bottom up approaches are at work together.

In my change programmes, a top down approach has to work very hard to earn its keep and do at least one of three things:

1. Grant a freedom 
2. Set an example
3. Take away unwanted friction
   
   

 |  In other words, top down changes must obviously serve, not burden, the people they affect.

Top down changes are a signal that it's safe and socially acceptable (i.e. won't harm your career) to do something. They are powerful levers to be used in thoughtful ways.

I'll do a newsletter on this some day - shoot me an email if you'd be interested to read this.

 

I'll ask myself how I can give people lots of practice.

Learn Experience one, do one, teach one.

I'll figure out a way to allow people to experience something new, to try it for themselves and to help others to try it.

This approach is at the heart of any 'intervention' I might do for example a workshop or another experience.

I'll make a playbook

A playbook is a way to share and socialise ideas without saying 'this is how you should do it'. 

It's a naturally living document which makes an offer rather than defining a process.

More on playbooks in another newsletter (reply to this email if you'd find this useful). 

 

And I'll measure, measure, measure. 

Starting small and not changing everything at once gives you the chance to take measures as you go and learn quickly. These measures will be numerical or factual related to the specific goal of the experiement. e.g. how long did people spend in meetings last week. And I'll ask everyone at every opportunity "How did you find that idea? What did you do with it? How did it go?"

As well as these less iterative measures, I'll repeat discovery when there has been sufficient 'dose' to compare back. 


And finally... I'm not saying this is the only way to create cultural change. I'm saying this is my most successful pathway through developed over many years, ready to be flexed and customised :-)