Ultimately, the evolution of brand culture revolves around consequences – good and bad. Every reaction to every behaviour is a signal to those involved and others that an action or attitude is unacceptable, tolerated or desirable. It’s also a powerful and simple way to test your brand culture principles.
In an article in HBR some years back, Jeffrey Pfeffer discussed power, capriciousness and consequences. In particular, he focused on what happens when people who are in positions of power pursue their own principles at the expense of those around them.
“The practice of flouting rules and violating norms actually creates power,” he observes, “as long as the culprit gets away with it.”
Later he says, “our ability to navigate our world with confidence depends on reasonably predictable relationships between actions and their consequences. When people encounter an environment filled with random, bewildering punishments and uncertain, inconsistent rewards, three things occur. First, motivation declines … Second, learning suffers from the lack of consistent feedback … And third, stress skyrockets.”
Test your principles by asking “What gets …?”
If you’re committed to building a Principled Culture, the simplest way to audit the silent signals that people receive is to ask, “What gets …?”
1. What gets talked about?
The subjects and keywords that come up time and again in conversations are a powerful telegraph of priorities. The power of language is that it gives expression to what’s uppermost in people’s heads. If your purpose and values don’t figure in some form in most conversations, then chances are they aren’t important enough for people to consider.
2. What gets celebrated and rewarded?
Acknowledgement and recognition speak to what a culture values and sets examples for what everyone should aspire to. In a cultural context the focus should be on the means not just the ends.
3. What gets taken up (and funded)?
Money talks, because it signals where the organisation invests resources. Principled cultures have direct line of sight between what they value and what they encourage. In a company with principled integrity, anything that is greenlit doesn’t contribute directly to the achievement of the purpose and strategic priorities risks capriciousness.
4. What gets priority?
The order of the strategic priorities is a powerful sign to all of what comes first. But a powerful secondary signal here is how the organisation’s structure. Isolating functions and people from direct strategic influence, in effect, relegates them because their work matters less to decision makers than the inputs of others.
5. What gets attention?
The speed with which brands act or react to situations, developments or opportunities, and their level of commitment in that event, speaks volumes for what is top of mind for a culture. The opportunities for distraction are everywhere. Focused cultures don’t just pay attention to the things that shout the loudest or loom the largest in a moment, they do so because they prioritise the purposefully.
6. What gets ignored?
It’s telling what a brand culture leaves unsaid or sweeps under the rug.
7. What gets debated?
There’s nothing wrong with respectful dissent. If there are different interpretations to the principles that a culture holds dear, then opportunities to make the case for another way of thinking or acting are important. Handled well, they speak to respect, consideration and robustness. Brands make decisions to be competitive, and inevitably there are times when consultation is not necessary or even helpful. But it’s important to identify those areas where conversation is possible and indeed desirable. And those places that shut down questions.
8. What gets political?
Not everyone is going to agree with every decision and there will always be business-as-usual tensions between some teams. But a litmus test for a principle culture should be those subjects or developments that divide people within the organisation against one another. In such circumstances, principles should guide how to resolve the situation.
The power of the “What gets …?” approach is that it enables you to practically compare the principled culture you need to fulfil your strategy, and the actual culture you have, based on the cues people are getting.
The wider advantage of testing your brand culture principles
The purpose of principles is not just to set out what your brand culture believes. It’s a framework against which you can measure the extent to which people are able, in the words of Amanda Gordon (she/her), to embody, empower and embrace the mission of your brand. More on the Principled Culture itself here.