In Chapter 15 of Walking the Talk I profile Lion Nathan, one of the most successful culture change processes in which I have been participated. Bob Barbour, the head of HR there was extremely tight on the importance of single, clear culture messages. I remember a time when an outside consultancy were found to be running a leadership training company in one of the outer regions of the company. They were teaching about the “performance culture”. They had a proprietory material centred around this concept. Bob found out about it and hit the roof. Lion Nathan’s single message was the “achievement culture”. People argued that the two were the same thing, and it was just a languaging issue. He disagreed. He understood the power of language. If their culture message was “achievement”, language of “performance” was confusing. Gradually the message would get diluted. Cynics would accuse the leadership team of using superficial slogans, not deep consistency. The opportunities for frequent repetition and linkages would be lost. The consulting firm did not get it. Attached to their proprietory material, they did not understand why Bob was making such a big deal about this. They did not last as an supplier to the company.
I learnt from Bob that changing culture needed a clear communication strategy that was consistent. Similar to an external brand campaigns. The top team were really committed, their challenge was to keep the pressure on with a clear message until there was a shift in behavior. Culture is all about messages, and many of these are non-verbal. Achieving consistency is difficult. The absolute minimum standard is the the verbal messages (‘the talk’) need to be consistent, these are the bedrock on which the changes in visible actions (‘the walk’) behaviors, symbols and systems can be observed.
My Walking the Talk methodology describes five cultural archetypes: Achievement, One-Team, Customer Centric, Innovation and People-First. When I ask clients to describe their desired culture, most list at least four of these. I strongly encourage people to focus on these sequentially, rather than all at once. Take a year or two to really focus on Innovation, and you give yourself the best chance to achieve traction. Go for all four at once and you confuse your message. All can form a part of your core values statement, but your culture planning is best done with one priority focus for the year. Having chosen it, and named it, take Lion Nathan’s approach and stay consistent with both the intent and the language.
It makes a difference.
