Is it possible to change a culture?
I have said it once I have said a million times, change comes from outside. Is it possible to change the culture of a company from inside?
As companies grow sometimes there comes a point where the founder moves to a different position be it a Chair or even decides to just be on the board. Bringing on a new leader changes things but not necessarily the culture.
This weekend Fred mentioned something he had heard about a country club that supposedly was interested in changing who they accept into the club. Not sure if it actually happened but the desire to change the culture can’t happen in drips and drabs but must happen more like a watershed.
For instance if a company is interested in hiring more women or hiring more minorities or hiring more people who have taken a leave from their career and are now returning they can’t hire just a few. They have to hire 50 people or 30 people at once. Something that makes a huge shift. With that many people entering a company or a club all at once it changes the culture from within…although these people come from outside.
Bottom line, even if this club was interested or not in changing the culture, it is good to hear, but it has to happen in a big wave or nothing will change.
Comments (Archived):
That’s a super interesting observation. I hadn’t thought of that particular aspect, and in fact have just operated under the subconscious assumption that increased diversity happens incrementally. I *love* this notion that it’s just the opposite.Great smack to the side of the head today. Thanks!
thanks. drip drip doesn’t work. gallons of water work.
It’s really hard. My friend is an economist at the University of Chicago. He studied M+A activity. What he found is that if a company bought another company, the weaker culture was absorbed and disbanded. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3… I realize the point you make is similar but slightly different. But, it’s nice to look at some tangential research.In a club, if members of the club consciously make a choice, it can happen. But, often times it’s hard to find a large quantity of candidates. It takes a while to change the reputation, and recruit.
I would think just the opposite actually.Does change happen because of the concentrated actions of a few global companies that actually have the resources to do as you suggest.Or does change happen in bottoms up ways as I seem to remember that over 40% of the people in the country work for businesses less than a few hundred people?
it could be bottom up from the top.
.There is a huge difference between changing the culture of a peer-to-peer organization (a social club) and a business (hierarchical organization).A club can do it quite easily by manipulating its dues structure, its offerings, and its recruitment.A club (known for its tennis facilities; Andy Roddick works out there) to which I belonged for many years (dropped when the kids were all grown) did just that by changing its initiation fee, financing its initiation fee, building extraordinary facilities (huge, friendly swimming pool; boat dock; weight room; outside dining overlooking the lake), improving its menu and food quality, sponsoring many great events and programs (swim team), providing excellent catering facilities for events, and slowly changing it clientele.It took about 10 years to make the change but it went from being a little snobbish to being very kid friendly and chic. Lots of weddings.Companies can change their cultures but it is important to know from whence the change is being made. A company needs to take a careful assessment of its point of departure.This is how you “test” a company culture. When you know where you are, you can plot where you want to go.http://themusingsofthebigre…The test of a robust company culture is — who owns it?If it is a young company, it is still covered with the fingerprints of the CEO/founder. If it is out of the cradle and on the crawl, walk, run continuum, the culture may be owned by the company’s employees. The more mature the company, the less real impact the CEO has on the culture.This does not mean a CEO cannot change the culture; it just means she has to work through different channels and persuade rather than mandate.Very few startup CEOs understand company cultures because they are too new to their jobs.Here is a series of blog posts dealing with what I learned in 33+ years of CEOing. I made every mistake possible and I learned at full tuition.http://themusingsofthebigre…There are fourteen blog posts.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…
.There is a huge difference between changing the culture of a peer-to-peer organization (a social club) and a business (hierarchical organization).A club can do it quite easily by manipulating its dues structure, its offerings, and its recruitment.A club (known for its tennis facilities; Andy Roddick works out there) to which I belonged for many years (dropped when the kids were all grown) did just that by changing its initiation fee, financing its initiation fee, building extraordinary facilities (huge, friendly swimming pool; boat dock; weight room; outside dining overlooking the lake), improving its menu and food quality, sponsoring many great events and programs (swim team), providing excellent catering facilities for events, and slowly changing its clientele.It took about 10 years to make the change but it went from being a little snobbish to being very kid friendly and chic. Lots of weddings.Companies can change their cultures but it is important to know from whence the change is being made. A company needs to take a careful assessment of its point of departure.This is how you “test” a company culture. When you know where you are, you can plot where you want to go.http://themusingsofthebigre…The test of a robust company culture is — who owns it?If it is a young company, it is still covered with the fingerprints of the CEO/founder. If it is out of the cradle and on the crawl, walk, run continuum, the culture may be owned by the company’s employees. The more mature the company, the less real impact the CEO has on the culture.This does not mean a CEO cannot change the culture; it just means she has to work through different channels and persuade rather than mandate.Very few startup CEOs understand company cultures because they are too new to their jobs.Here is a series of blog posts dealing with what I learned in 33+ years of CEOing. I made every mistake possible and I learned at full tuition.http://themusingsofthebigre…There are fourteen blog posts.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredcar.c…