Will you be able to achieve results if your employees maintain the current way of thinking and acting?
Peter Drucker said “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast”. We say “Change the Culture to align with the Strategy and you will enjoy exceptional results.”
Companies around the world, such as Apple, General Motors, Petronas, Starbuck, Whirlpool, Sony and Mc Donalds have had very significant and sustainable increases in results through changing their culture with the Partners In Leadership methodology , exclusively represented in Portugal by Bright Concept. To get an idea of this methodology, take a pen and write a result that your organization would like to achieve but that is at risk.
Result: __________________________________________________________________________________________
Now write what you propose to achieve these results.
What do you propose to do: _____________________________________________________________________________
Most leaders and managers in this situation focus their efforts exclusively on actions, that is, new plans, rules and procedures. However, our clients quickly learn that they can accelerate change when they broaden their focus to work on the ideas people believe in, ie the beliefs, and the interactions they have with their employees, ie the experiences.
When leaders work with the deepest level of beliefs and experiences, they step on the accelerator of cultural change.
In a change program that we are conducting, the employees themselves created the slogan “Just change your perspective” to deal with the change in behavior that they have to do to achieve results.
Company boards generally don't focus their attention on what employees believe in, because they think it takes longer to change and doesn't change by decree. Indeed, without the right methodology, working at the level of actions is easier than at the level of beliefs. However, focusing only on actions results in frustration and a culture where employees say “Tell me what to do”, instead of thinking “What else can I do?”.
Then try writing down a belief or idea that many of your employees believe would, if changed, help achieve the intended result.
Current Belief: ________________________________________________________________________________________
Now write down the way of thinking that would increase the possibility of achieving that result.
New Belief: ________________________________________________________________________________________
What stops people from embracing this belief? Finally, write down the experiences, that is, the interactions you need to have with people, for them to create this new belief.
Experiences: ________________________________________________________________________________________
It is always good to remember that all your actions, conscious and unconscious, influence the experiences, beliefs and culture of your employees. For this influence to lead your organization to the desired results, it is necessary to work with the right methodology. Try it!
Isabel Freire de Andrade | Partner at Bright Concept isabel.andrade@brightconcept.pt
Note: Bright Concept is the exclusive representative in Portugal of the «Culture Change Methodology», by Partners In Leadership. It should be noted that an 'accountability' study by Partners In Leadership (2010-2014) shows that 96% of business leaders say that culture has more impact on results than strategy (however, 75% spend more time on strategy ).
(Translated to English)