Results Oriented Culture

Results seem to be a topic of conversation quite frequently these days. Every organization is trying to figure out how to achieve more with less. We use words like accountability, engagement, and behaviors in our discussions about getting more results. We analyze our workplace to determine if we are truly productive. We dream of changing “the way things have always been done”, convinced that if we could only do things differently it would be better. Does any of this sound familiar? What we are really talking about is culture; and not just understanding culture but creating, adapting and changing culture. How overwhelming does that sound?

Culture in the simplest terms is the way we do things. Each group has a culture. The way I think about it is; our behavior is how we show up at work. A group of people and their different behaviors make up a culture. Conflict occurs when one or more of the people in the culture group lack the skill, ability or desire to adapt their behavior. Culture impacts behavior, attitudes and satisfaction. All of these translate to engagement in an organization. People who fit in to the culture tend to be more engaged while those who do not, don’t. Culture also affects the pace at which work gets done, how outsiders are treated, the attention paid to details, or risks that the group takes. These in turn influence the success of the group in meeting its goals.

I attended a webinar last week titled, How to Accelerate Culture Change for Game-Changing Results. It was an interesting and fast paced hour with several great tips for action. The speaker referenced their culture model that they call the Results Pyramid® http://www.ozprinciple.com/culture/results-pyramid/. Experience drives beliefs, beliefs drive actions, actions produce results and results create culture. The argument is that either you will manage your culture or it will manage you.

Changing culture to obtain results does not have to be completely overwhelming if you think of it this way:

1. Don’t just focus on responsibility, take accountability for achieving results.
2. Culture changes one person at a time.
3. Development is the key to creating culture change.

I narrow this down to how I think about most things. Small steps each day toward a defined goal will accomplish great things, even changing culture.