Over the past 12 months, we’ve collected a lot of data on high-performance cultures. And while great analytics provide an essential foundation for growth and culture change, they don’t encompass the entire change strategy.
At innerlogic, we combine a methodology and a technology to help organizations accurately measure culture. The effectiveness of our analytics, however, like all data, ultimately rests on a willingness to reflect, engage, and commit to action from key leaders and influencers in the group.
When transforming data into tangible growth and change, follow these guiding principles:
Establish a Sence of Urgency:
Examine findings with a factual lens. Productive culture change begins when you have the discipline to confront the facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. A question to ask that often helps create urgency is, “what’s going to happen if nothing changes in this area?” For example, we help teams schedule action steps like workshops to review the findings while they are still collecting so as to be ready when the data is ready.
Set Your Priorities:
“If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities.” – Brené Brown. Resist the urge to boil the ocean, and rather, hone in on a few key culture change areas you have the capacity to impact over the coming months. For example, multiple areas of improvement are likely to materialize. Making decisions on which will yield the most impact will be crucial.
Form a Guiding Coalition:
Assemble a diverse, representative, and influential group to lead the culture change effort. Bring this team together to drive ideation in an open and honest way based on the priorities from the report, and ensure they are empowered to act on the group’s vision. This will ensure that all voices are heard and that the change effort is well-informed and inclusive. For example, the diverse representation will be critical because different parts of your teams will likely have different cultural experiences. Also, there are likely influential culture change drivers hiding amongst your teams.
Create Short-term Wins:
Begin to implement initiatives that are visible and obvious based on the feedback provided from the data. They don’t have to be monumental, but rather little changes that send a signal that things are in motion and the feedback provided is making a difference right away. For example, making physical changes to the environment that reflect the desired culture, like creating spaces for collaboration and creativity or adding elements that promote well-being.
Strategize Long-term Success:
In the midst of celebrating short-term culture wins, continue to plan bigger initiatives that will be instilled more gradually. For example, developing a long-term roadmap that outlines the key yearly milestones and initiatives for culture change and regularly evaluating progress towards these goals. Another example is to invest in leadership development programs that can help support and sustain a high-performance culture over the long term.
Measuring and analyzing culture is a critical first step toward achieving a high-performance culture. However, it is important to remember that data alone is not enough to drive change. To turn data into action, leaders must establish a sense of urgency, set priorities, form a guiding coalition, create short-term wins, and strategize long-term success. By following these guiding principles, organizations can create a culture that fosters growth, innovation, and success. At innerlogic, we are committed to supporting our clients in every step of the culture change journey. We are excited to continue our work in creating high-performance cultures worldwide.
About the author
Bryce Tully, Chief Executive Officer at innerlogic.
He holds a master’s degree in Sport Psychology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has worked as a Mental Performance Consultant with various Canadian Olympic teams for over a decade, including a most recent appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Bryce’s mission is to create the world’s best high-performance culture management experience and help organizations worldwide reap the tremendous benefits of enhancing and building their culture.
