The importance of culture

ascendconsulting:

Culture can be a significant competitive advantage and it is not easily replicable. However, most organisations are not investing in culture at the level that will set them apart from their competitors. To build the case for investing in cultural improvement requires a thorough understanding of the cost of the current culture. The business case is strong in the areas of speed, accountability, rigour, collaboration and attractiveness to customers and employees, and it is in these areas that the link between culture and performance is most easily demonstrated. Carolyn Taylor’s (author of ‘Walking the talk’) definition of culture is the result of messages that are received about what is really valued - so, culture management is about message management. People align their behaviour to these messages in order to fit in. Changing a culture requires a systematic and planned change to these messages, whose sources are behaviours, symbols and systems - so that the desired culture can be created and sustained.

Some tips for changing the culture….

1. Culture is about messages received about what is important - change the messages and you change the culture.

2. Find out what people believe is really valued - not what it says in your values statement.

3. Build the business case for culture change specific to your organisation.

4. Problems with speed, rigour, accountability, silos and insensitivity to customers or employees are particularly suitable to a cultural solution.

5. Focus you efforts - pick one element of a great culture and use it to pull the rest along.

6. Build off your existing natural cultural strengths.

7. Spend most of your investment on changing mindsets - when these change, the rest will follow.

8. Don’t embark on this process unless you are confident you can get some of the top team to change how they think.

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Rule Number 6

ascendconsulting:

Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: “Peter,” he says, “kindly remember Rule Number 6,” whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologises, and withdraws. The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interupted yet again twenty minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again the intruder is greeted with the words: “Marie, please remember Rule Number 6.” Complete calm descends once more, and she too withdraws with a bow and an apology. When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime minister addresses his colleague: “My dear friend, I’ve seen many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of Rule Number 6?” “Very simple,” replies the resident prime minister. “Rule Number 6 is ‘Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.’” “Ah,” says his visitor, “that is a fine rule.” After a moment of pondering, he inquires, “And what, may I ask, are the other rules?” “There aren’t any.”

This comes from “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life” by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.  It’s worth a read….and it’s a rule worth remembering!

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The power of words

ascendconsulting:

This video clip speaks for itself…..powerful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

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Immunity to change

ascendconsulting:

People and organisations resist change in different ways. Harvard University professors Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey have analysed the sources of resistance and explained the methods to overcome them in their book “Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organisation.”

Kegan and Lahey start the book by referring to a recent study which showed that when doctors told heart patients they would die if they didn’t change their habits, only one in seven patients was able to follow the changes successfully.

The authors explain that everybody with immunity to change has two types of commitment: visible commitment and hidden commitment. Visible commitment is what we express as our commitment, while the hidden commitment is our inner desires and our assumptions that support these desires. The third element is the behavior that is working against the change. The authors define this as doing, or sometimes not doing, something. The simplest example to illustrate this theory is weight loss. The visible commitment of somebody is to lose weight. The behavior requiring change is overeating or eating when the person isn’t hungry. If the person wants to lose weight, why does he behave in the opposite way? Because there is a hidden commitment. The person may want to be full of energy, may believe that eating is fun or doesn’t give value to being physically attractive.

The authors argue that people cannot change because of their hidden commitments: If we can think and talk about our hidden commitments and supporting assumptions then, we can keep up with our visible commitments.

This book is definitely worth a read.

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Playing to your strengths

ascendconsulting:

Utilising our strengths in whatever we do is critical to achieving the results you desire - and it positively impacts our base level of happiness, as we are applying our unique strengths to our day-to-day situations. A very valuable exercise is to find out what your signature strengths are. Martin Seligman is the founder of Positive Psychology, a new branch of psychology which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. His research has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier — to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one’s circumstances.

Log into his website www.authentichappiness.com and register to complete the VIA Signature Strengths Questionaire. Once you find out what your top strengths are, think of ways of how you can build them into your day-to-day activites. This will have an impact on both the results you get, and the level of engagement and happiness you experience.

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Seeing what is possible

ascendconsulting:

I love this old story…

Two shoe salesmen were sent on a mission to Africa in the 1900’s to find out if there were any opportunities for selling shoes. They both wrote telegrams back to thier head office in Manchester. One wrote “Situation hopeless. Stop. They don’t wear shoes.” The other one wrote “Glorious opportunity. Stop. They don’t have any shoes yet.”

No matter situation you find yourself in, notice what your mindset is. Ask yourself: “am I looking for what is possible?”

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Seeing what is possible

ascendconsulting:

I love this old story…

Two shoe salesmen were sent on a mission to Africa in the 1900’s to find out if there were any opportunities for selling shoes. They both wrote telegrams back to thier head office in Manchester. One wrote “Situation hopeless. Stop. They don’t wear shoes.” The other one wrote “Glorious opportunity. Stop. They don’t have any shoes yet.”

No matter situation you find yourself in, notice what your mindset is. Ask yourself: “am I looking for what is possible?”

Playing to your strengths

ascendconsulting:

Utilising our strengths in whatever we do is critical to achieving the results you desire - and it positively impacts our base level of happiness, as we are applying our unique strengths to our day-to-day situations. A very valuable exercise is to find out what your signature strengths are. Martin Seligman is the founder of Positive Psychology, a new branch of psychology which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. His research has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier — to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one’s circumstances.

Log into his website www.authentichappiness.com and register to complete the VIA Signature Strengths Questionaire. Once you find out what your top strengths are, think of ways of how you can build them into your day-to-day activites. This will have an impact on both the results you get, and the level of engagement and happiness you experience.

Immunity to change

ascendconsulting:

People and organisations resist change in different ways. Harvard University professors Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey have analysed the sources of resistance and explained the methods to overcome them in their book “Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organisation.”

Kegan and Lahey start the book by referring to a recent study which showed that when doctors told heart patients they would die if they didn’t change their habits, only one in seven patients was able to follow the changes successfully.

The authors explain that everybody with immunity to change has two types of commitment: visible commitment and hidden commitment. Visible commitment is what we express as our commitment, while the hidden commitment is our inner desires and our assumptions that support these desires. The third element is the behavior that is working against the change. The authors define this as doing, or sometimes not doing, something. The simplest example to illustrate this theory is weight loss. The visible commitment of somebody is to lose weight. The behavior requiring change is overeating or eating when the person isn’t hungry. If the person wants to lose weight, why does he behave in the opposite way? Because there is a hidden commitment. The person may want to be full of energy, may believe that eating is fun or doesn’t give value to being physically attractive.

The authors argue that people cannot change because of their hidden commitments: If we can think and talk about our hidden commitments and supporting assumptions then, we can keep up with our visible commitments.

This book is definitely worth a read.

(via ascendconsulting)

The power of words

ascendconsulting:

This video clip speaks for itself…..powerful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU