Why is it that some teams just keep on winning? Is it because they have more resources, more talent, better development programs, better players? Whilst these are all logical reason for success, history suggests that it is none of the above.
Let’s take a look at Germany. Today they are the best team in the world. Do they have the best domestic competition? Probably not. Do they have the largest population of talent to draw on compared to other football nations? Definitely not. Do they have the best development program? Maybe, but probably not. So, why does Germany continue to produce amazing and highly successful teams? What is their X factor?
Most people have heard the saying ‘winning is a habit’, or ‘you have to believe to achieve’. These and other clichés like them point out what is intuitively obvious. Culture is the X factor for success.
Team cultures are hard to define and by nature quite ethereal. Cultures are not just defined by results but also defined by a ‘feeling’. Yes, I just used the F word and business hates the F word! After all if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it. And even worse, feelings get in the way of making the tough decision. But to influence a culture you need to feel.
Cultures are alive and constantly changing. One day you walk into the office and it feels warm and welcoming and on another day it feels prickly and uncomfortable. So what can you do? Generally in life if something feels uncomfortable you can simply walk away but in the workplace or in a team environment that may not be an option.
The good news is feelings and emotions are contagious.
I can hear you now……
“What do you mean good news? I arrive at work, I have to be there, and everyone is crabby. If feelings are contagious then pretty soon I am going to be crabby too?”
But it is good news because positive emotions are far more contagious and can even act as an immune system against negative emotions. If you don’t believe me then try this simple test. Walk down a busy street with a big smile and make eye contact with random strangers. It is incredible how contagious a smile is. Now do same thing but instead of smiling, frown. People will respond very differently. When confronted with a frown, most people do not frown back; instead they will simply ignore you or turn away — emotionally unchanged.
By owning your emotional state, and by choosing to feel positive, you are building an immune system against negative emotions.
Remember, emotions are contagious and positive emotions are very contagious. So, by owning your emotional state and choosing to feel positive not only are you protecting yourself you are also influencing your team culture in a positive way. You are ‘hacking’ the culture.
Most people know how a winning culture feels and I have touched on how we can influence culture using the contagious qualities of emotions. Another way of ‘hacking’ culture is to influence the underlying thoughts and beliefs that are shared by the team. Are those beliefs self serving or are they working against the teams goals and objectives.
Here are some examples of famous German football quotes. They provide an interesting insight into the thoughts and beliefs that underpin the German football culture.
“Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten” The ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes.
“Das Runde muss ins Eckige” The round thing has to go in the rectangular thing.
Both of these quotes are attributed to the coach of the 1954 World Cup winning team Sepp Herberger. They point to a belief that ‘football is not complicated’, or more profoundly ‘football is easy’. This belief is evident in Germany’s structured and methodical style of play. They might be criticised for lacking flair but they could never be criticised for being ineffective.
“Es gibt nur eine Möglichkeit: Sieg, Niederlage oder Unentschieden” There is only one possibility: victory, defeat or a draw.
I love this quote, it has an almost Zen quality. It implies you ‘choose your destiny’ and a belief that ‘the outcome is up to me, it is what I decide it is going to be’.
“Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel” After the game is before the game.
Germany has not only produced some amazing football sides but also some incredible philosophers and perhaps Sepp Herberger was channelling one of them when he made this statement. This quote sets up the belief that ‘the game is never over’ and to ‘never lose focus’. And there is no question that Germany plays a relentless style of football.
If the predominant thoughts and beliefs in your team are not self serving then you will want to change them but changing thoughts and beliefs can be extremely difficult. Over time a negative or unproductive belief builds momentum, and sometimes a lot of momentum. A fast moving train cannot stop instantly and change direction, and if it did the forces required would most likely destroy the train.
Rather than pick a fight with an existing unproductive belief it is much easier and far more effective to simply change the conversation.
Self serving thoughts and beliefs feel good, unproductive ones don’t. By shifting the conversation the unproductive belief disappears into the background and begins to lose momentum.
Shifting team beliefs is more complicated culture hack but these rules of thumb will help
a) Promote a pre-existing thought or belief that serves the team goals. Once negative momentum has been established it nearly impossible to insert a new positive belief. It is much easier to elevate or surface a pre-existing one.
b) Try to avoid arguing against the negative beliefs that are alive in the team. Often arguing against them only adds to their momentum. It is much better just to remove yourself from the discussion.
c) If things are not changing then check in on your own beliefs. Do you see the team and its members how they are or how you want them to be? Try to see them how you want them to be.
Germany’s amazing performance winning their 4th World Cup demonstrates that culture is the X factor that creates success. Once you understand how cultures work then you can start to hack your culture. A hacker breaks into the code that makes software effective. Culture hackers do the same. By influencing changes to the team culture, culture hackers can radically transform a team and in turn its performance.
Tim Buzza is Founder and Culture Hacker at One Mantra.
