For as long as I can remember, I’ve been eager to challenge any status quo and promote change in the name of progress.
It worked wonderfully in dynamic organizations growing at warp speed, like Adobe in the late nineties. Change was the norm, and we’d reinvent ourselves constantly.
It didn’t work as well in established companies that had spent much time figuring out how to find their happy niche and had stabilized since then. The mindset was more about protecting what had worked well than taking “unnecessary” risks.
I already wrote last year about being a change agent and making it work whatever the environment you’re in. See my 2022 post: So, You Want To Be a Change Agent?
What I didn’t cover then was how important it is not to underestimate resistance to change and the distress it causes.
Change will often challenge existing values, assumptions, and beliefs. Conflicts will arise within your team, often led by loyal employees who see themselves as the guardians of the company’s core values.
So, how should a leader approach their change initiatives?
By staying on top of how the whole organization is progressing in adopting them.
It requires good judgment and the right tools.
Reflecting on it, I can see that whenever I failed with some of my initiatives, I often misread the genuine level of engagement of the teams and their appetite – or lack thereof – for change.
I was unable to advance these initiatives. The status quo prevailed. Growth slowed, and eventually, I even had to sell or terminate parts of the business.
I wish I’d been more familiar with the Cultural Iceberg Model then.
In short, that model metaphorically represents culture developed by anthropologist Edward T. Hall: you can compare a company’s culture to an iceberg.
The visible and small emerged part is the explicit or surface culture. Think behaviors, language, clothing, and any other noticeable element. These are the easiest to observe and understand.
The more significant submerged-hidden part represents the implicit or deep culture. It covers core values, beliefs, assumptions, norms, and underlying thought patterns. They’re more complex and subtle and profoundly influence people’s behaviors. They are often deeply ingrained and may not be readily apparent to outsiders.
The Cultural Iceberg Model highlights the importance of recognizing and understanding these underlying elements to grasp the full complexity of a company’s culture.
It means spending time and energy to gain insights into the values, perspectives, and deep-seated influences that shape the visible manifestations of a culture.
But how can you better capture this submerged part of your company’s cultural iceberg?
Here are a few steps to consider, especially if you’re new to the organization:
1 – Start by ensuring you’re on top of your company’s mission statement, vision statement, and anything outlining its core values and beliefs. Don’t overlook significant past milestones or events that shaped the company’s culture. They often provide insights into the company’s guiding principles and aspirations.
2 – Triangulate by informally speaking with team members at all levels to gather their perspectives on the company’s culture. Through open-ended questions, you can capture how they interpret the company’s core values, how they get things done, and what behaviors are rewarded or discouraged.
3 – Study the leadership approach of executives and middle managers. Look for patterns or differences in behavior, communication style, decision-making processes, and how they acknowledge and reward employees’ contributions.
4 – Immerse yourself in the company’s events: company-wide meetings and town halls, but also more informal serendipitous interactions by the water cooler. By capturing how employees interact with one another in such diverse settings, you’ll better understand the unwritten norms and underlying thought patterns that shape the company’s culture.
These are just starters, and it’s an ongoing process that might take some time before you assemble all the pieces of that puzzle. It’s also fair to note that different teams will likely have their sub-culture.
So keep triangulating! The more insights you gain, the stronger your chances of succeeding with your change initiatives.
Good luck!