Shape shifting organisations — a simplistic view
Why is it so difficult for new teams to adapt and break in?
Organisations undergoing transformation need a cultural ambition and foundation to grow
In ‘transformational’ roles the remit is often to create cultural change (off the side of one’s desk). To be honest, that change is considered secondary to one’s ‘real job’ — that of digital transformation.
But, there’s no such thing as digital transformation. An organisation that wants to survive today needs to have digital capabilities so cultural transformation is, and should be, the main goal. It’s about creating new ways of working, new rituals, better collaboration, breaking down silo’s and changing perspectives of the role of people and how they should behave.
Waxing lyrical about ‘seamless customer experiences’ means nothing if the organisation is not willing to break down silo’s and change how they work, process, perform and act as a business. This will likely involve changing the way P&L is handled, merging business functions, embedding risk and compliance in product teams, challenging cost structures and doing away with traditional departments. All of this is about changing the way things work, messing with cultural norms and daring to play with the way business is done.
Let’s be clear, you can’t deliver a seamless front-end if you don’t change the way the back-end works.
Digital products and services are a side effect of a cultural shift + a resetting of business objectives, customer ambitions and brand goals.
So what elements of culture affect an organisations ability to move in a different direction and how can we help new teams and old teams come together?
Hofstede (1980) built models for how national cultures affect mindsets and these models provide an insight into how organisations currently work. What’s interesting is that these can be applied to considering how a culture may need to shift to enable alternative mindsets and futures.
Understanding cultures using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
Two models: National and Organisational
Applying national cultural dimensions to an organisation
Big organisation shifts come from changes at a ‘national’ level
In my opinion, the organisational culture model works well for the intricacies and granularity of everyday life in teams. However, the national model provides foundation or ambition for a sense of purpose and for setting the tone for the organisation at a higher level.
If you can define where you want to be on these scales, you push c-suite into action to hire, behave and install initiatives that are aligned.
Where legacy organisations sit
Very insular, handcuffed almost
Having worked in a number of client side companies wanting to transform, I’ve observed that for the most part they tend to sit on the left hand side of these scales.
They are hierarchical, individualistic (whilst spouting words about collaboration), there are more men in leadership positions, they avoid uncertainty and failure (whilst wanting to build start up cultures), they think in the now and they are resistant to invest in true social initiatives that lead to change. These organisations strangle themselves in todays world.
What organisations need to be successful
Open cultures, cultivating trust, true collaboration and forward thinking + a bit of spice
Multi-disciplinary teams will die in organisations that try to control. The shift now, for the most part, is to the right of the scales and successful, nimble businesses acknowledge that an organisation must be structured, and behave, in a different way.
Breaking down silos is more than open offices and fun spaces. It’s about a deliberate shift in ways of working, in fostering uncertainty, in thinking forward and in indulging in time. We are so consumed by speed to market and MVP’s that we forget the role that pace plays in iteration. This is a mindset shift if ever we are to break new ground and truly disrupt markets again.
Cultural change is much like chipping away at a wall with a tiny hammer. The current structure breaks down over time, but you have to keep chipping away from different angles. Top down cultural change programs, often named Project X and implemented ‘in secret’ have little impact because all they do is stack new processes on top of old ones, again ignoring the value of letting people do what they do best.
A movement takes no more than 12 people to mobilise it across an organisation before the multiplier effect takes over. So, who are your 12 rebels, change makers and takers of no BS? Find them, set them in motion and start your cultural movement.
