This Thursday we’ll be hosting another #CultureChat on twitter, and our topic will focus in on the what, when, and how of changing an existing culture. I find that a lot of the organizations with really amazing cultures grew up like that. Their founders created that cool culture. So does that leave any hope for the rest of us who maybe inherited an okay-but-not-so-great culture? Is it even possible to change an existing culture into an awesome one?

I think so, and we’ll find out how in Thursday’s twitter conversation. Just be on Twitter this Thursday, 1pm ET, and follow the hashtag #CultureChat. I personally use an online tool for following the chat, although they tend to vary (randomly) as to which one works best, so I rotate among tweetchat.com, tchat.io, and twubs.com

Here are some of the questions we are considering. Please feel free to add other suggested questions by commenting on this post, and join us for the chat on Thursday!

  • Are there basic rules of change management that you must BREAK when changing a culture?
  • What kind of turnover should you expect and how do you manage it?
  • What kind of timeline should you plan on for culture change?
  • What are the most frustrating obstacles to culture change and how do you get past them?
  • How do you find the time to do the work of culture change AND everyone’s regular work?
  • What are the most important processes that you expect to change as part of a culture shift?
  • How is culture change work connected to strategy development?
  • Should culture change come from the top or from the bottom? Is one better than the other? How do you get buy in if change stems from one or the other?

image credit

Jamie Notter