What Matters

I was delighted with the successful launch of Energy Queensland's new culture and values. It was a privilege to work with the team before, during, and after cyclone season to capture and articulate What Matters Most to EQL. I have tremendous respect for the EQL team and am excited about what lies ahead in this once-in-a-lifetime transformation across the energy sector.

I'm in the business of cultures that work.

You know a culture is good when it works - that is, a culture enables positive, productive work.

You know a culture is working when:

• People feel they belong and can bring...

We know culture is important. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents in PwC’s 2021 Global Culture Survey considered culture more critical for success than strategy or operating model, and 81% attributed culture as a point of competitive advantage.

We know culture can be changed on purpose. PwC’s survey found that a staggering 80% of team members are disappointed with their organisation’s culture, 76% of leaders believe culture is changeable, and 65% of leaders believe they need to change their current culture. Yet only 15% of organisations report culture...

In my book, Shift: Everyday actions leaders can take to shift culture, I share my GRASS model.

GRASS was born out of my frustration with culture models that were either too stuffy or too fluffy for leaders who just wanted to know what to do.

After synthesising decades of research, I narrowed the list of moments that matter most down to 8.

The three most well known are first impressions, when things are going well and when things aren’t going well. These are all moments of truth for team members and leaders. I call these the groundwork. We need to work on these in every relationship.

GRASS...

In a McKinsey survey with a representative sample of more than 1,000 participants from US companies, 82 percent agreed on the importance of purpose, but only 42 percent reported that their company’s stated “purpose” had much effect.

Having read plenty of purpose statements, that's not surprising!

Many organisations’ purpose statements are so generic that they do little to inspire or challenge business as usual. At some point, they blur and all start to sound the same.

More than a vision and a strategy, a purpose elevates performance. A strong vision and strategy...

Culture isn’t someone else’s job. We all contribute to culture.

How you show up in your team and your workplace impacts those around you.

We’ve all worked on teams where one person has shifted the culture around them - for better or for worse.

Don’t wait for someone else to tackle your culture. Share some good vibes and contribute positive energy to your team culture.

#workplace #work #culture #contribution #cultureshift

When you lead people, Culture is your day job. It’s not something special and different that you do once a year before a survey. Culture is not extra work on top of how you do things. Culture is not somebody else’s job. Culture is how you get things done every day.

According to McKinsey, digital transformations require cultural and behavioural changes such as calculated risk taking, increased collaboration and customer centricity.

Of course, we know, that Cultural change is behaviour change.

In fact, all change is behaviour change. 

#cultureproof #cultureshift #culture #change #behaviour #behaviourchange

If you visit the Drucker Institute website, one whole page is dedicated to things Peter Drucker never said. Easily the most misattributed is “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast”.

Culture. Still eating Strategy for breakfast.

No matter who said it first.

#funfact #psa #culture #strategy #cultureeatsstrategyforbreakfast

Homogeneous culture is a myth. Cultures are full of myths and legends, heroes and villains. Sub-cultures are not the villain.

Healthy cultures embrace vibrant subcultures.

Like someone is entirely comfortable with themselves doesn’t feel threatened by those around them who are different.

So, for the love of subcultures, don’t weaponise difference.

Celebrate it.

#culture #subculture #homogenous #difference #mythbusters #myths #villains

 Your Culture impacts your Strategy at every point:
- ideation, development and analysis;
- discussion, agreement and alignment;
- translation into actionable plans;
- communication and commitment;
- execution and operationalising;
- monitoring and reporting on progress;
- adjusting course; and
- celebrating success.

Don’t underestimate Culture. Your Strategy probably already has.
#culture #strategy #cultureeatsstrategyforbreakfast #cultureshift