This time we will discuss the 2nd focus area for future-oriented organisations in a series of 5.
Culture: Culture is your magic ingredient to success!
For the most successful companies, corporate culture is the key success factor in realizing its strategic transformations. The well-known metaphor of Peter Drucker: “culture eats strategy for breakfast” is fully applicable here. Companies with a strong culture are up to three times more efficient.
Culture is that unique set of behaviors, rituals, symbols, and experiences that collectively describe how organizations do and manage things. Leaders lead by example and encourage new ways of working – from employee onboarding to the way meetings are held.
One of the necessary cultural elements is that the employees are open to learning. And when it comes to learning, it’s good to listen to what Mrs. Carol Dweck has to say about this. She is a PhD in Psychology and professor at Stanford University. She has spent 30 years researching the relationship between motivation, performance and success. She discovered that it is not only our skills and talents that ensure success. It is our mindset, our attitude towards challenges and problems, that largely determines the results. Each of us has a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. You always have a mix of both and you can always evolve from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. The reactions to changes and challenges differ enormously. People with a fixed mindset fall back on what they have learned in the past. They don’t think it’s their job to do anything about it. They don’t see the point and consider it a waste of time. Those are the people who say: that doesn’t work here, I’ve mentioned it a thousand times, is it time already to call it a day and my hard disk is full. They criticize others, prefer to complain and above all, they don’t feel responsible and feel victimized.
People with a growth mindset are open to everything that comes their way and to new experiences. They realize that you can learn things, even if they don’t work today. They go for it and see changes as opportunities. They are enthusiastic, want to grow personally and learn from others. They continue until they succeed and that is the basis for sustainable success!
Note that culture is not just slogans on walls. Leaders seeking to create a robust performance culture, prepare their own unique “magic ingredient” of their organization. The key element: specific, observable behaviours that employees at all levels of the company demonstrate.
In short, these organizations create a strong identity that meets employees’ needs for engagement, social cohesion, purpose and meaning. People long to belong, and they want to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Corporate culture is the magic potion that makes the difference between mediocre and top organizations.
“Culture is the magic start-up ingredient and shortest route to success”!
Would you like to know more about how to prepare your organization for the future? Send me an email: ronny@rs-q.eu
or feel free to give me a call on +32 472 460228.
