We have found that culture drives the way every organization does business.  Culture determines an organization’s ability to execute its chosen strategy.  A company seeking to be the lowest cost producer will fail if its culture supports sloppy decision making and a lack of accountability.  The leader in customer satisfaction will have a culture where the customer is highly valued.

In our experience culture is created by the messages people receive about how they need to behave.  Because everyone wants to fit in and be successful within the team, group and organization of which they are a member, each person adjusts their behavior according to the messages they receive.  Those who cannot adjust are eventually ejected – they leave or are asked to leave.

Most of these messages are unspoken, and come from three sources: behaviour, systems and symbols.

Leaders’ ability to walk their talk is the key to changing culture. Employees look for messages from what leaders do, not what they say.  Leaders walk their talk by aligning the behaviors, symbols and systems to the statements being made about what their organization stands for.  A culture business plan helps leaders to close the gap between their walk and their talk.

- Diagram of culture business plan

Organizational Challenges