I’ve seen a rush of recent articles and blog posts on
elements of ‘cultural transformation’. Model after model on how to mould an
organisation’s culture around the way you want things done. Isn’t this the wrong
way of looking at things?
No model or process is going to ‘make’ people do things differently,
willingly and enthusiastically, in a way that re-shapes the organisation. No
employees take an edict from on-high and embrace it to the extent that they love
and follow it as their own.
What anyone eager to change the way an organisation works
must do is articulate a vision of the future and engage them in the benefits of
that change. Don’t lay down, in minute detail, every element you want to
re-shape, but engage people in the ‘whats’ and the ‘whys’ and allow them to connect,
interpret and change working practices to align. Set the parameters, in other
words, and support teams and individuals to respond.
You can’t forcefeed colleagues with culture change. Instead,
engage and empower them to take on your goals as their own, and make their own
changes to support the vision you’ve outlined. I feel that’s a big difference
between ‘transformation efforts’ that become embedded into the organisation and
those that simply wither on the vine.
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