Much of the prevailing discourse suggests a brand’s culture happens as the sum result of how people choose to collectively behave.
That sounds somewhat haphazard. A principled culture is about grounding those dynamics so they are much more intentional. While everyone agrees that key indicators act as measures of cultural change and the means to assess the real impacts of change, choosing the right metrics to measure a principled culture is vital.
Cultures tend to be measured on things like employee engagement, churn rates, perceived productivity and outputs – all of which are about putting numbers around people. By contrast, a principled culture is underpinned by two seemingly contradictory sentiments: an agreed sense of responsibility assessed by five living deliverables; and, at the same time, an acknowledgement of the importance of ongoing discussion and resolution to avoid blind compliance.
Five principled deliverables
Those five “living’ deliverables are ethically based (though of course there are potentially ways to measure them numerically): good for people; true to purpose; accountable to the environment; right for the strategy; and in lock-step with the promise. Each works to inform and influence the others as a cultural ecosystem.
Good for people
A principled culture makes a distinctive and constructive commitment to developing smart, energised and emotionally intact ways of working. People choose to hold true to what the culture holds dear. Equally, leaders hold themselves responsible for maintaining a culture that is true to its word.
To achieve this, build on proven and agreed behaviours that Mark Bridges describes as “deeply ingrained, widely recognized, and emotionally significant” and that already underpin and express the character of the culture. That way you’re working from a solid and evolved foundation.
Also crucial are leaders whose actions and attitudes set the example for desired behaviours and traits.
True to purpose
A principled culture insists that the way that the culture behaves contributes to, and progresses, the company’s advancement of its most powerful idea. Purpose and values set in place the guidelines for what’s sought after and what’s acceptable. They drive energy and priority.
Policies and practices must also endorse the purpose and, alongside communication, foster new ways of thinking and behaving that align with strategic goals.
Such principles prevent people acting from convenience or blind opportunity. They confirm that “how” is just as important as “what” in the pursuit of “why”. Purpose acts as a moral compass.
Accountable to the environment
Every brand today must be actively looking for ways to be more proactive and accountable for its environmental and social impacts. Our belief is that awareness will drive the development of “sustainable culture”, where the organisation as a whole takes collective responsibility for brand-based ethical, social, communal and environmental performance rather than devolving it to the sustainability team alone.
One way to do this is to treat environmental impacts as ‘problems’ and to encourage a problem-solving culture to resolve them. As you encounter environmental challenges, involve people in problem solving these matters from within the culture in a principled way. While this seems obvious at one level, it’s not without its challenges. It requires the culture to openly and safely discuss, acknowledge and resolve problems in a constructive way.
Right for the strategy
Strategy is a key deliverable for a principled culture. Nothing good will happen if people are not organised, trained and empowered to get the business to achieve its commercial goals. They need to be very clear about goals, expectations and the resources and support available to them to make the strategy happen.
An innovation culture rewards curiosity and exploration. While studies suggest that less than 10% of companies will pursue disruptive innovation, an innovative spirit, informed and empowered by strategy, will enable companies to be more adaptive and to pursue products, services and business models that have competitive edge.
In lock-step with the brand promise
A principled culture never loses sight of the customer. The brand promise acts as a living responsibility. Every function must think about decisions in the context of, “What are we promising will happen?” And therefore – how does the culture need to come together and work together in order to deliver that?
Internally, it’s also important to shorten the distance between what people do and the results they see. Validating that new actions produce different outcomes speeds up take-up and injects confidence into the change process.
Cultures as tribes
So how do you infuse these living factors into the brand culture and still enable people to retain agency. Building on some nice thinking from Jason Graub, the key to getting this right we believe is acknowledging and leveraging various levels of tribalism:
Tribe of one
The culture makes intrinsic sense, emotionally and philosophically, to each member. The brand pursues ideals and goals that align with what people are inspired by.
Tribe of some
Teams celebrate commonality, while using their diversity of experience and background to constructively pursue the strategy, the purpose and environmental goals.
Tribe of dissent
People are given opportunities to express and socialise their opinions and concerns. By treating respectful debate as the sign of a healthy culture, people have different ways to express their reservations. Not everyone wants to speak out. Some will prefer to quietly point out. The five living deliverables serve as a strong basis for permission. For example, if something jeopardises the delivery of the brand promise, people can raise a ticket on that basis.
Tribe of advocacy
Leaders build rapport with groups within the brand culture that are passionate about your five ‘living’ factors. Too often, cultures want to engage in simple and single-minded promotion of an idea. Drawing on all five factors enables conversations, training and exchanges to be broader, more involving and more considered.
Tribe of brand
People working for a brand hold themselves accountable for what the brand stands for, the value it represents, the promise it makes and the way it performs as a result. These ideas are embedded in the five living deliverables.
Tribe of humanity
The culture’s biggest goals are linked to how it intends to change the world, through purpose and environmental performance. These provide inspiration and responsibility, together.
The measures you choose to highlight play a crucial part in forging a Principled Culture. They help bring the cultural identity alive and to make it easier to make clear decisions. Perceptions will vary at times. That’s ok too – if debate and robust discussion are genuine and take place within parameters. More on the Principled Culture itself here.
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