"Leading with culture may be among the few sources of
sustainable competitive advantage left to companies today," according to Groysberg, Lee et al. in the January/February issue of the Harvard Business Review. In their "Leader's Guide to Corporate Culture" piece, the authors underscore that culture is central to organizational success and that there are scientific management tools for its diagnosis, design and development. It's not artsy "soft" stuff, by any means.
Best practice organizations such as Disney, REI, Tesla, Wegmans and Zappos understand that culture fuels success with strategy and operations. Too many organizations seem ill-equipped, however, to assess let alone change their cultures. The authors provide "four levers" for helping them do so:
1. Articulate the aspiration.
2. Select and develop leaders who align with the target culture.
3. Use organizational conversations about culture to underscore the importance of change.
4. Reinforce the desired change through organizational design.
Groysberg, Lee et al. emphasize two imperatives throughout their work: the need to align strategy, culture and leader - easier said than done - and the critical importance of communication (words and deeds) in building or changing culture.
Interestingly, the authors suggest that, "Unlike developing and executing a business plan, changing a company's culture is inextricable from the emotional and social dynamics of people in organizations." I beg to differ. Even from such expert culture advocates, does this kind of thinking betray a lack of appreciation for the inseparability of culture and strategy? Besides, since when are human emotions and social dynamics even remotely separable from business planning and execution?
Best practice organizations such as Disney, REI, Tesla, Wegmans and Zappos understand that culture fuels success with strategy and operations. Too many organizations seem ill-equipped, however, to assess let alone change their cultures. The authors provide "four levers" for helping them do so:
1. Articulate the aspiration.
2. Select and develop leaders who align with the target culture.
3. Use organizational conversations about culture to underscore the importance of change.
4. Reinforce the desired change through organizational design.
Groysberg, Lee et al. emphasize two imperatives throughout their work: the need to align strategy, culture and leader - easier said than done - and the critical importance of communication (words and deeds) in building or changing culture.
Interestingly, the authors suggest that, "Unlike developing and executing a business plan, changing a company's culture is inextricable from the emotional and social dynamics of people in organizations." I beg to differ. Even from such expert culture advocates, does this kind of thinking betray a lack of appreciation for the inseparability of culture and strategy? Besides, since when are human emotions and social dynamics even remotely separable from business planning and execution?
Image courtesy of Tripwire.