What is culture anyway, and why does it matter?

Guest post by Andrew Saffron

When I first started helping organisation to change their culture, it was quite a slog to convince them that getting their culture right would change everything. Or anything. They thought it was a soft and fluffy subject. They thought it was about putting bean bags in the meeting rooms. They thought it was the same thing as ‘staff engagement.’ They thought it was what HR does – because they’re the ones who know about people.

More recently, organisations have started to realise that their culture will directly impact their ability to achieve their business goals. However not many manage to do it successfully. And many still retain the out-dated view that it takes years to change their culture. If this were true it would be seriously bad news for the organizations that are hurtling towards a cliff edge and need to rapidly turn around performance. It would also be really bad news for organisations that have great growth ambitions and need to evolve rapidly in order to beat off the competition.

How about organizations that can see disruption coming at them at speed? Well, they’re going to get run over faster than you can say “Blockbuster Video.” And what about the businesses that are aiming to be disruptive? They need a culture NOW that will allow creativity to flourish, smart risks to be taken, decisions to be made at speed, and ‘fast fails’ to be encouraged and rapidly learned from.

So, what is culture? Essentially, it’s the unwritten rules for how we behave in a particular organisation. I realise that sounds incredibly simplistic. But whilst the definition is short, it’s vital. The fact that these rules are unwritten, makes it difficult to readily grasp what they are. And the fact that they’re ‘rules’ tells us that people do abide by them – probably unconsciously.

So what? Why does behaviour matter? Because those behaviours dictate how decisions are made, whether continuous performance improvement is even possible, whether unifying dots can be joined across the organisation, whether you can retain talent, whether you’re able to move at pace and whether you’re able to focus on what’s important to your customers. All of which tells us we’re grappling with something that will have a life of its own unless we’re willing and able to get a good double-handed grip on what’s going on.

Let’s look at a couple of examples of where these ‘unwritten rules’ have taken the driver’s seat in organisations. In a global defence organisation I’ve worked with a lot, they historically had a culture of aggression, abrasiveness, blokeishness and combative internal competition. In an investment bank I worked with recently, they had a culture of gossiping and bad-mouthing behind people’s backs. In a global telecoms organisation I’ve worked with, they now have a culture of ‘helpfulness.’ I.e. we really love mucking in to help each other out to get the job done and hit the targets.

No one tells them to behave like this, they just do. And newbies to the organisation do it because we all have an ability to chameleon-like blend into our environments (or choose not to, and leave).

Let’s be very clear about why culture is absolutely critical: the only reason to focus on your culture is to determine whether it’s going to help you to achieve your goals or get in your way. For example, if your organisation is bureaucratic, silo-ed and hierarchical, it’s likely that you don’t move at speed, you’re missing opportunities, you’re wasting money and duplicating effort. Your culture will drive organisation performance… upwards or downwards.

I worked with a high-tech, Silicon-Valley-based company recently. They had a pervading culture of perfectionism. Which sounds great doesn’t it? But actually, they were going bust. The reason? Because they polished and polished and polished before taking new products to market… by which time their competitors had already got out there, mopped up the market, and had celebratory drinks in the pub.

That’s why you’ve heard the expression “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It doesn’t matter how good your strategy is. No matter how leading-edge, how professionally programme managed and how market-shifting it might be, it won’t happen if your culture gets in the way of everyone performing in the way you need them to. Because it’s the people that have to deliver the strategy. I know that’s obvious. But this rather important fact can get ignored in the first flush of a love affair with a new product launch, strategy or expansion plan.

Creating the right culture requires focussed, on-going attention. You won’t get the culture you need by putting posters on the walls displaying your Values. It’s not about gimmicks and merch. You need a clear methodology and rigorous effort.

Andrew Saffron is a world-leading culture change expert, the author of Better Culture, Faster and the director of Innermost Consulting.