I’m working with several clients right now on the “Playbook” stage of our culture consulting work. This is the part where the rubber meets the road—where they have to develop a list of things they are going to propose to management that will move their culture in a direction that is aligned with what makes them successful. As they are writing up their plays, there’s one piece of feedback I find myself giving over and over again:
Yeah, but what exactly are you going to DO?
The first inclination many have is to articulate the result they want. Improve communication. Better coordination. More innovation. Do a better job at giving feedback.
That’s all great—but what are you going to DO? What process are you going to change? What technology are you going to employ? How are you going to change the way you run your meetings internally? What part of the organizational structure are you going to shift? How are you going to redesign your office space? How are you going to change your performance management system or (gasp!) your compensation structure?
It’s called culture CHANGE, folks. You don’t change simply by declaring the results you want. You change by doing things differently. So start making a list.