Culture Reveals and Reflects Values
As a kid, you probably had the experience of being invited to a new friend’s house for dinner or to play. Now remember what it felt like watching the family interact for the first time — and just being right there in it — a kid — no ability to impact it, but experiencing it. You may remember a culture that was really difficult — perhaps it made you uncomfortable, even fearful. Or you may recall delighting in a culture that was fun or supportive — perhaps it made you feel safe and energetic. Either way, you left that home with new insight on your friend’s specific cultural context, and probably some of your friend’s behaviors made sense to you for the first time. You didn’t need to hear their family’s values or see their mission statement -- you had just experienced them.
Culture is just that — the force of values (reinforced behavioral norms) that tell us what we can do and what we should not or must not (!) do. There are consequences to violating cultural values. Nothing has a greater impact on organizational results than culture.
Let’s contrast the extremes:
A “toxic” organizational culture enables and encourages a wide range of “dysfunctional” values — drama, manipulation, and abuse are behaviors enabled by values around “sticking together,” “upholding traditions,” and “protecting our way of doing things.” A toxic culture pushes out questioners, outsiders, and experts — while pulling in “insiders,” those seeking approval, bullies/victims (yes, they flip!), and naive do-gooders. Toxic cultures are not mysterious, but they can be mystifying to those who encounter them. This “mystification” is by design — they are trying to hide who and what they really are. Toxic cultures struggle to achieve their business goals for good reason — that is simply not their focus.
A high achieving, high value culture, in contrast, is transparent about what drives behavior, attracting questioners, doers, and experts. “High value” cultures value individual diversity; making space for different approaches, creating an engine of excellence, cultivating diverse skills and talents. High value cultures align behaviors with values explicitly - out in the open. This alignment between stated values and what actually happens is why high value cultures achieve results. Creating an explicit context of behavioral adherence to shared values creates safety — safety is the basis for healthy disagreement in pursuit of shared goals. Imagine your childhood friend’s dysfunctional dinner table with behavioral rules that were explicit! (Asking “what are the real values at play here” can be a fun and illuminating exercise.)
High achieving cultures begin with bedrock foundational values — “accountability” and “transparency.” Transparency is really just organizational honesty and forthrightness, and accountablity is an agreed structure for maintaining responsiblity to oneself and each other. There is a reason the best public companies share these best practices — and no it is not “regulatory requirements.” Foundational values enable a broader diversity of values to flourish, values reflecting the purpose and ethos of the organization.
All organizations benefit from understanding exactly what the culture tolerates here and now. Are you brave enough to find out?
Here’s the roadmap to understanding the culture that is:
Enlist a neutral third party like me to conduct a culture audit — existing leaders are participating in one way or another and so cannot be part of the fact finding.
Request confidential (360 degree) interviews with stakeholders. It is important to listen for hesitation and discomfort (what is not said), well rehearsed value statements (it is not a bad thing to recite organizational values) but also real enthusiasm and energy leading to action (this aliveness indicates values being lived and authentically embraced). The purpose of the engagement is to discern what behaviors are being rewarded and what behaviors are being thwarted, and how. The guiding question is whether values evidenced at every level are or are not consistent with those expected/aspired to, as well as the impact the disconnect is having.
Request review of governance materials, employee manuals and values statements for coherence and alignment.
Request review of all relevant internal communications, public disclosures, websites, and other materials. The purpose here is to compare what the organization says it is with what it does.
Request special attention to the means by which transparency is provided to the various stakeholder groups and also how accountability works, exactly, at each level of the organization.
Request a report out that protects the confidentiality of parties, identifies and describes critical gaps between existing values and stated values, and notes areas of strength and opportunity.
Next step is an action plan to build the culture that will immediately improve results.
I have the tools, capabilities, and insights you need to understand what is holding your organization back from their biggest impact. It is possible to create lasting, positive, culture change, and the people you serve are depending on you to take responsiblity.
Reach out. Let’s talk about next steps.
Cindy
P.S. As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments! Email me at cindy@fosterchance.com
