Has our culture changed?

"Has our culture changed?" someone asked recently.

With change comes the need to reevaluate what parts of your existing culture will continue to be valid, and those that are no longer useful.

Some may be no longer useful because they no longer support the new vision of what defines your company's success.

Let's face it. No one really likes change. Our brains yearn for the familiar, sameness and simplicity. More change brings more complexity. Or does it?

Transformation - small or big - takes effort. It's not easy. The question you need to ask yourself is this: Is it worth it?

If you're taking a big picture view of what a thriving successful business means to you and your colleagues, the answer will be self-evident.

You know deep down that the transformation that you are about to embark upon will have its pains, its ups and downs and its disruptions to the "way we used to do things around here" and is exactly what your company needs to be doing right now. The alternative is a slow death.

So how do you get everyone in the organization to embrace the changes that you so clearly see are necessary?

First, accountability is crucial. If in the past, there has been a lack of accountability then yes, your culture is and should be changing. But without accountability, the process of transformation will break down. What you will be faced with is mounting resistance.

If you desire to be a world-class organization, then you will need to raise expectations of each others' actions. This is not we v.s. them. It's everyone.

Second, face the current reality truthfully. This will likely be the hardest part because it means calling out the failures of the past and getting real about what really matters. This is where meetings can get contentious, and if not handled appropriately, may cause some hurt feelings or worse.

The Navy Seals perform after-action reviews right after a mission. Nothing and no-one is off the table for discussion. It might get heated, but in the end it's part of what makes the Seals an elite force. For them, it's life or death.

For you and your company, hopefully it's not life or death. By creating an open dialogue where all the key stakeholders can be a part of the process, gives everyone a voice. In doing so, you create an opportunity for buy-in. This is an important step as you need everyone rowing in the same direction.

Third, take a big picture view of what the desired future looks like and again, get all the stakeholders involved.

One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to take a pause and a step back, and look to the horizon. Then assess - honestly - how keeping the status quo will affect the desired future.

The stark contrast of these two futures will help you and your colleagues decide on which paths to follow, what parts of the past culture are still valuable and the next steps to take.

If you want to have a best-of-class organization, you need to address the elephant in the room. That elephant is resistance to change couched by questioning the change in the culture.

Some change is necessary, but you don't need to do a total overhaul if your company is performing well.

But just think how far you and they can go when there's an embrace of accountability by everyone in the organization.

Until Next Time!