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The Impact of Culture by Choice, Not Chance!
Written by: Rudy MiickArticle Overview: You have a business culture. It simply exists. The question is, are you happy with the results your culture's achieving? If the answer's no, you have an opportunity! You can CREATE Culture actively and choicefully. Read more to find out how. This article was first published in 2009 in Food & Drink Magazine.
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The Impact of Culture by Choice, Not Chance!
Business culture exists. It just is. Your culture is happening accidentally or it’s happening on
purpose. Which is it? Pay attention here. If your answer is, “its somewhere in
between,” I’d make the case your real answer is, “No we have not defined our
culture.” By default you’ve chosen
“performance by accident.”
Do I have your attention?
Culture is all about behavior and
the creation of norms. Each
business environment is in essence a community focused on results. With a results focus, excellence
can be defined and supported.
Just like a community, we can define and track performance that is what
I’ll call either red flag or green flag behavior. As a member of the company, my job is to be
conscious. At any given moment I
get to be choiceful about my performance instead of being unconscious, on
autopilot.
10 red flags that
scream, “Our culture needs attention!” are:
10. It’s a common belief that “no one” is loyal anymore…
In passing, you hear things like:
9. “I’ve only got 2 more years to go.”
8. “Our policy is… (fill in the blank.)”
7. “We don’t talk about that here”
6. “Forget it, they’ll
never listen.”
5. In response to a big speech about cutting costs, wages
and hours you hear: “Ya right, I wonder how much of their bonus they’re putting back into the company?”
4. The Company mission is mentioned with a smirk.
3. Sarcasm is the primary humor in the company; followed by,
“I’m just kidding.”
2. “You catch yourself remembering the story, “The emperor
has no clothes.”
1. The real meeting happens after the meeting.
If you’ve never really defined your
business culture, what a great time to begin! The exercise provides clarity. What if this step into explicit
culture feels like a waste of time?
“We ought to slow down to define culture? In this economy?”
Yes.
“Rudy are you crazy?” (Some will say, yes.)
If your story for years has been,
“We all know what our culture is,” from my experience you’re likely missing
real opportunity. Now is the time, more than ever. Why?
Here’s a quick case having occurred
in the last month, and a direct result of performance based on definitive
cultural goals. If you’ve read my
column for any length of time, you’ve heard me mention Pizza man, Nick
Sarillo. Nick’s Pizza and Pub is
based in the predominantly blue collar suburbs of Chicago. This company has a definitive sense of
Purpose. Their culture is all
about being a real gathering place for families in the community. While the rest of the restaurant
industry is in real pain, down 10% or more, Nick’s is sitting with 4% real
growth, profitable with positive cash flow.
Nick’s performance expectations are
definitive, 220 team members are focused and aligned and their management
systems are anticipatory.
Company performance is anything but the norm for business performance in
their community even without recession, let alone in the guts of it.
All said, 4% growth is still not
their goal. What to do? Costs are cut as much as they’re
going to be, solution, raise sales.
How? On Friday and
Saturday the restaurants have a 1.5hour wait, five turns, and a $16,000 night
isn’t uncommon. (Yes I said,
pizza.) Obviously, even in recession, weekends were not the issue. In a brainstorming session using their
Company Purpose and Values as a guideline, someone came up with the idea of
“Half priced pizza on Monday nights!”
Wait a minute. There are certainly plenty of
restaurants out there right now lowering prices to gain traffic, most with
little or no impact. More so, if
you went through the so-called burger or pizza “wars” in the 90’s, lowering the
price of core product is not the smartest idea, at least create a new product
that provides a perception of value at a lower price. So how is idea different?
Remember Culture by choice? Here’s the rest of the
story: Half price pizza on Mondays
is offered because the Purpose of this company is to serve as a gathering place
for families. From the team, from
the president of the company, came a sincere offering, “We” know that our community
is in a world of hurt. “We” also
know that regardless of how tough it is out there for you as families, you’ve
been visiting us still as your gathering place of choice.”
Nick went on, “We’re pricing our
pizza half off Monday’s for two reasons: First, to say thanks! And more so, because we’re part of this community. We realized we can do something to
support you by providing pizza half price on Monday nights until the
unemployment numbers are back to pre-recession percentages. We all feel the pain, and we’re in this
with you! This is one thing we can do to support you, in appreciation of the
way you’ve supported us.”
Results: 30
days later, Mondays are as busy as the weekends. Next step: ½ price on take out on Tuesdays. (The middle of June, a month into
the ½ price pizza on Mondays, a letter to the editor for the local paper was
printed that named Nick’s Pizza as having done more to boost the attitude of
the community and the local economy than anything being done in Washington D.C. Not bad press.)
You may say, this is just smart
marketing. It’s certainly smart;
and it’s more. This is an example
of decision-making using purpose and values as guideposts. Nick’s is a company that has explicit
values that support of their business culture.
At Nick’s and other client
companies, constant attention is paid to anything closely resembling one of the
red flag behaviors mentioned earlier. (Yes, we are human and those red flags
show up. The choice is to act or
don’t when you experience them!)
At the same time, green flag behaviors are celebrated!
10 green flags that
signal, “We’re awake, thanks to our Culture!” are:
In passing, you hear things like:
10. “I can speak honestly”
9. “Thanks for
the feedback!”
8. “We made a
difference today!”
7. Team members
are more than loyal, they reach out to guests and customers anticipating needs
6. You hear talk about guiding principles as much as (or
more than) policies
5. Sense of Purpose, and Values are used in language
daily. Managers act as coaches
instead of cops
4. Metrics are in place for any system or process which
provide anticipated outcomes for any
action
3. Potential Solutions are offered with complaints or any
issue of concern by everyone
2. Accountability reigns: “I” own my actions and raise my hand for assistance with
time to still achieve goals rather than miss them!
1. The real meeting happens in the meeting, truth is spoken
with dignity and respect
The
work to define culture is simple, not easy. Outcomes are unique each and every time, but the following
map seems to work well:
Define and Celebrate personal
Passion.. explore how that passion shows up at work and turns into sense of
Purpose, first as individuals, then as leaders and team, the company as a
whole. From Purpose as a
foundation, define values. Present
tense, “I” statements; be explicit.
From there with sense of Purpose as a foundation and values to guide,
define Vision. What is it you
really, I mean really want. Be explicit, and have metrics on
everything. Then create mission
teams to achieve the vision, on purpose using your values. Objectives and tasks will show up
that support mission.
Culture just is. And choiceful Culture is very
achievable. Take the time to
define the culture you want. If I
can provide you more clarity on this journey, please call or email. This ride is big fun AND has the
ability to bring a sense of ethic back to “being in business!”
Article Tags: accountability, change, high performance, leadership, loyalty, performance
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About the Author: Rudy Miick RSS for Rudy's articles - Visit Rudy's website Rudy's a recognized leader in change, concept development, leadership and communication. He is the co-author of 4 books on leadership and communication and writes a bi-monthly column on leadership for Food & Drink Magazine. He is a coach and guide supporting clients to achieve leadership and life goals not thought possible. Check out: www.miick.com Click here to visit Rudy's website Want High Performance Look In a Mirror Purpose Values are Verbs Create A Culture of Consistency The Impact of Culture by Choice Not Chance The Power of Vision |
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