Three Actions Leaders Can Use to Shape...

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Suzanne Adnams

VP Analyst – Gartner

Three Actions Leaders Can Use to Shape Culture


“Culture is the set of behavioral norms

and unwritten rules that shape the

organizational environment and how

individuals interact and get work done

in that environment.”

Creating a Culture that Performs


The Leader’s Priorities in Culture

• Have a clear vision of the desired target culture you want to encourage and

describe it in a concrete and realistic way

• Identify what is positive, supportive and successful in your current culture and

celebrate those behaviors

• Understand the responsibility and influence that all managers and supervisors

have as role models for the culture to their teams and staff

• Educate managers and supervisors in successful leadership behaviors so they

are equipped as culture leaders, not just process managers

• Work on incremental, direct ways to shape and adjust workplace behaviors

consistent with the desired culture outcomes


Mindsets

Thinking

Attitude

Perspectives

Viewpoints

Practices

Activities

Rewards

Routines

Norms

Values

Principles

Priorities

Drivers

Motivators

Three Facets of Organizational Culture

Culture

Behaviors are at the center

of the culture definition.

Behaviors are how we see

the expression of

organizational culture.

Leaders can look at three

facets that help to shape our

behaviors and ultimately the

organizational culture.

Behaviors


The Culture Virtuous Circle and Vicious Circle

Growth Mindsets

Adaptable Practices

Living Values

Fixed Mindset

Rigid Practices

Hidden Values


Understanding Organizational Culture

• Culture is viewed as a barrier,

rather than an enabler

• Leaders often feel nothing can be

done about culture

• Culture is complex with many elements,

dimensions and components that

emerge as behaviors


Understanding Organizational Culture

• Culture is viewed as a barrier,

rather than an enabler

• Leaders often feel nothing can be

done about culture

• Culture is complex with many elements,

dimensions and components that

emerge as behaviors

• Shaping, shifting and sharing culture

can feel overwhelming

• Culture growth must start from inside by

addressing behaviors, it can’t be imposed

from the outside


Shaping Organizational Culture

Visibility

Language

Rewards


Key Issues

1. How can you raise the visibility of workplace values?

2. What can language tell you about individual mindset?

3. How do rewards and reinforcements shape practices?


1. How can you raise

the visibility of

workplace values?


Core values are the principles that

guide an organization's internal conduct

as well as its relationship with the

external world. Core values are usually

summarized in the mission statement or

in a statement of core values.

BusinessDictionary

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/core-values.html


The Gartner Top 10 Workplace Values Cultural

Values

Agility

Collaboration

CustomerFocus

Accountability

Results Orientation

Innovation

Integrity

Performance

Leadership

Efficiency

Gartner 2017 Culture Benchmarking Survey



Garner Top 10 Workplace Values Your Corporate Values?

• Customer focus

• Results orientation

• Innovation

• Accountability

• Collaboration

• Performance

• Leadership

• Integrity

• Agility

• Efficiency

•

•

•

•

•

Sharing Values through Visibility


Example of Values Mis-Match:

K.T. took a new position in a well-

established, family-run company with an

impressive and successful history. K.T.

had aggressive career plans and was

focused on success and fast promotion.

K.T. was competitive and worked hard

trying to outperform colleagues. The

company however, valued long-term,

paced career growth, collegial rather

than competitive environment and

establishing long-term personal

networks over short-term performance.


How do you Share Corporate Values?

What values support the enterprise

mission and strategy?

Do daily behaviors

reflect those values?

How can you model and

demonstrate values daily?

Who can help you become a better values role model?


Recommended Actions to Share Values

• Identify current workplace values and determine whether these are consistent

with the goals of the business and the target culture.

• Observe, discuss and review expectations that affect workplace outcomes and

performance to identify key values that require adjustment or reinforcement.

• Establish and reinforce workplace values by highlighting them in relationship to

business strategy, goals and operational objectives.

• Most importantly, leaders must model those values daily, in every

decision and action.


2. What can language

tell you about

individual mindset?


Words have power. …Our word choices,

particularly when repeated over time,

can create strong contexts in the minds

of the listener, and those contexts then

drive future language patterns in a

self-reinforcing cycle.

“Power Your Digital Leadership by Tapping Three Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior.”

http://iapps.gartner.com/webdv/DocDisplayServlet?Doccode=325996


What does our Corporate Language Say about Us?

Do you have this culture? Or this culture?

• Us & Them

• Taking Orders

• Enforcing Standards

• Users

• Techies vs Business

• Vendors & Suppliers

• Blame

• Issues & Problems

• We Focused

• Supporting Outcomes

• Enabling Change

• Colleagues

• We are all business

• Partners & Providers

• Accountability

• Challenges & Opportunities


Questions to Challenge your Language Patterns

• Do staff use the same words and phrases as the rest of the organization to

describe themselves, others and the enterprise?

• Is the same word or phrase applied or interpreted differently depending on the

audience or situation?

• Would everyone using that terminology explain it or define it the same way?

• Does the wording or term refer to something from the past that is no longer

part of the current environment?

• Are there embedded attitudes, biases or judgements in the word or phrase based

on past experiences?

• If you changed that word or phrase to something else, how does it change the

conversation and thinking?


Example of the Power of Language

A CIO of an agency that had undergone

significant merger, reorganization and

retitling of roles, identified an ongoing

issue with a staff member. This

long-term employee continued using

the terminology from the previous

organization’s practices and continued

referring to her previous title, even

though it was no longer relevant to

her new role.


How do you Shift Our Language Habits?

Identify Common Jargon or Terms

What Assumptions or

Associations

What is an alternative to

introduce

Who needs to be involved?


Recommended Actions to Shift Language

• Examine the terminology, phrases and wording that are commonly used to

refer to the work environment, the enterprise and those who work in it.

Look for patterns that support the desired culture and for patterns that are

interfering with progress.

• Don’t try to change everything at once. Pick one or two terms that are used

frequently and introduce another set of wording.

• Consider using gaming approaches and contests to create a friendly, competitive

environment that promotes language and behavior change in an indirect way.

• Where there are blatant language obstacles being created within the workplace,

be willing to confront those uses in a constructive and professional, but direct

way.


3. How do Rewards

and Reinforcements

Shape Practices?


Reinforcing feedback drives a

system increasingly faster in the

direction it is already going,

whether away from

its goal (called a vicious circle) or

toward it (called a virtuous circle).

BusinessDictionary

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/reinforcing-feedback.html


What are you Rewarding in Daily Behavior?

Counter-Productive Practices Productive Practices

Hero behavior: Stepping up at the last minute to

resolve an issue or meet a deadline

Effective behavior: Thinking and planning ahead

to prevent incidents from occurring

Being too busy to be trained on something

new or learn new skills

Seeking out opportunities to learn

Not bringing ideas forward or offering

suggestions for options

Contributing to problem solving and solutions

Ignoring or avoiding challenges and issues

rather than deal with them

Raising concerns and identifying potential risks

when recognized

Working alone or refusing to collaborate with

others when requested

Sharing information and seeking input from

others, partnering to accomplish goals

Unwavering adherence to process over purpose Flexibility in execution to focus on success

of outcomes


Example of Rewarding Undesired Behaviors

One staff member in application support

was constantly behind on his assigned

operational work, requiring others to pick

up the workload or causing delays. The

behavior was excused by the unit

manager because this person was the

first to jump into a crisis situation or do

firefighting.


How do you Shape the Reward Environment?

Behavior Observed

Vicious Circle orVirtuous

Circle

Reward or Reinforcement

Observed

What needs to be done?

Who needs to be

involved


Recommended Actions to Shape Rewards

• Identify three or four specific behaviors that are counter-productive to the desired

cultural objectives. Look for the rewards or reinforcements that are ensuring those

patterns persist.

• Work with internal and external stakeholders on changes required to policy,

procedures or metrics to remove or adjust the embedded reward system.

• Define the desired behavior and plan how to inform, train and reinforce that

new practice. Ask these questions:

– Does it require change in policy, attitude, practices,

procedures or relationships?

– Who needs to be involved to make that happen?

– How can you train and monitor for the new practice?


Final Recommendations

Identify and raise visibility of the values of the organization. Ensure

consistency with enterprise values and goals, a shared understanding of

priorities and consistent approach to priorities.

Define and promote consistent language and terminology. What you

say reflects the attitudes and mindset that support your behavior.

Make language matter.

Reward and reinforce desired behaviors. Encourage positive

behaviors and eliminate undesirable or out-of-date habits by looking for

elements that reinforce vicious cycle and virtuous cycle practices.


Shaping Organizational Culture

Visibility

Language

Rewards


For information, please contact your Gartner representative.

Recommended Reading

“Toolkit: 3 Actions CIOs Can Use to Shape Organizational Culture”

“CIOs Influence and Shape Workplace Culture Using Values, Language and Rewards”

“The CIO’s Role in Creating a Culture That Performs”

“Use the ESCAPE Model to Develop Change Leadership”

“Power Your Digital Leadership by Tapping Three Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior”

“The Art of Culture Hacking”

“Create a Compelling Vision That Everyone Understands”

“CIOs Can Use Language to Identify and Overcome Change Aversion”

https://www.gartner.com/document/3969930?ref=solrAll&refval=231297363&qid=e506c68d0fb6886fa0

http://www.gartner.com/document/3890667

https://www.gartner.com/document/3923932








AppendixWorksheets



Garner Top 10 Workplace Values Your Corporate Values?

• Customer focus

• Results orientation

• Innovation

• Accountability

• Collaboration

• Performance

• Leadership

• Integrity

• Agility

• Efficiency

•

•

•

•

•

Activity 1: Sharing Values through Visibility


Activity 1: Visibility & Values

What values support

the enterprise

mission and

strategy?

Do daily behaviors

reflect those values?

How can you

demonstrate and

model values daily?

Who can help you

become a better

values role model?


Activity 2: Language & Mindsets

Terminology or Jargon

Used Commonly

Assumptions or

Associations

Alternative wording

or description

Who Needs to

be Involved?


Activity 3: Rewards & Practices

Behavior

Observed

Vicious Circle or

Virtuous Circle?

Reward or

Reinforcement

Observed

What needs to

be done?

Who needs to

be involved?


Workshop Name: Shaping Organizational Culture

Date: [DATE]

Facilitator's Name: [FACILITATOR]

Key Strengths & Challenges

Things I can do to shape organizational culture

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Department, Divisional or Branch

Priorities & Objectives

Key Colleagues or Stakeholders

Action Plan


Action Plan

Complete the Action Plan sheet to identify:

1. One or two items for each of the three areas discussed:

Practices/Rewards, Mindsets/Language and Values/Visibility.

2. The items that are the priority for your branch, department,

division or team.

3. Key Challenge to address and key Advantage to leverage.

4. The stakeholders and decision makers to engage in change leadership

and help you achieve your plan.

Three Actions Leaders Can Use to Shape...

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