interpretations, assignment of motives (sometimes malicious or self-serving), and premature judgments typical of corporate cultures, as well as the lack of emotional guidance, support, and motivation for change, you get the fourth side - the culture factor. Of the biggies, the biggest.
Contrary to most leadership’s wishful thinking, a culture will not always do as they’re told - they’ll do as they see their bosses do (most typical in classic patriarchal cultures). When they see the leaders in their organization, from maybe the CEO down to their immediate bosses not being able
to break some old routines, they will also have a difficult time themselves breaking routines. When they see that potential problems that
could have been averted aren’t addressed until they show up (a dominant don’t-fix-it-until-broken philosophy), they don’t do that either. And it goes
on and on. The ramifications are interminable.
Most executives and managers we know who want to fully and functionally achieve the state of Adaptability - and they all do - try very hard. Many
have MBAs and lots of experience in their fields and in management or executive positions. But for many, they just can’t seem to be able to bring
about authentic and robust change to their own satisfaction. Others, once again unknowingly and unwittingly, acquiesce to the limited results of an
effort & settle for mediocrity - not realizing that the result was much less than the true capacity of the organization. In many Pre Consults where
we look at past change efforts, we see this.
Nearly every book or text I have read or studied on the subject of driving change plants the same supposition – it is leadership who drives change. I believe this to be an incomplete hypothesis. Yes, it’s true that leadership is at the helm, much like the captain of a ship. But like in any efficiently run ship, it is others who pilot, or navigate, or steer, or communicate, or deliver the combined effort that propels the vessel towards its goal. People unfamiliar with the world of marine operations often ask, “Then what’s the purpose (or job) of the Captain?” Interestingly, in business settings, employees sometimes ask, “What do CEOs, Presidents, Chairmen, Board of Directors, etc. really do – how do they contribute if we do everything?” (Sounds like Capt. purpose or job to me!) |
Translating this analogy to a commercial venture environment, we can see that while the leadership may be saying “let’s change this…”, much like the captain of a ship would say, “let’s cast off and get going”, it needs to be others who do the piloting, navigating, steering, etc. It will be other people within the organization - not just the leadership - who will drive and power change. Driving change then means not just being surrounded by other leaders that can and will also drive change, but being surrounded by all kinds of people within the organization who will embrace & power change.
Let’s not forget, however, that the trick is to get all the people, not just the leadership, to understand that Adaptability is the key to driving change. Next would be learning what all of that means, how to best do it - efficiently and effectively - and finally, how to translate it into action.
Your organization is going to change whether you want it to or not. You will have to react to market changes & shifts, trends, emerging competitors, technology, emerging regulatory controls, etc., if you are to survive. This is Riding It. And, this also needs to be a tactical imperative. But never at the expense of your strategic imperatives (delivered through Adaptability).
You can also be Driving Change. Set yourself apart from your competition by pursuing better Efficiency through Adaptability. Statistics suggest that your competitors are likely not doing this. And, here’s the gig - get good at Adaptability, and both your Efficiency and Flexibility will help you outdistance competitors. CAUTION. If you focus primarily on Efficiency and Flexibility, it may not be as smooth a ride as it could be. It would be like driving on a nice paved road on wooden wheels.
| Banks International specializes in Organizational
(Corporate) Culture Change. With its proprietary
processes, together with the world renowned Simplex® process, we bring expertise, experience, innovation,
creativity and a proven track record together to help businesses & organizations improve their performance
by improving their culture. |
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