It’s amazing to me, but looking back over more than a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies are a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.

Everybody pretty much agrees that the culture of tech companies need to change. (The focus used to be on Wall Street. It never changed, but the focus did and tech is the new, very visible poster boy of bad culture.) It’s also agreed that changing a company’s culture isn’t simple — and it certainly isn’t done by proclamation.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

It’s amazing to me, but looking back over more than a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies are a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.

I think the best commentary on this post comes from a comment on the original that validates it.

You just nailed the main issue with failed change efforts. Change starts in the head (pun intended. . .). Many times when I’m brought into a company, bosses want me to help change everybody else but them. Doesn’t work!

It always amazes me how bosses are more willing to waste money than to change their thinking and behavior. The trick is how to find a way to help bosses see the ROI of changing the way they think and behave before trying to embed those changes throughout their organization.

Great post! – Dr. Ada Gonzalez

No one ever said change is easy and it’s still harder when it is your MAP that needs to change, but it is possible. More on change during the week.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

The thing she [behavioral psychologist] taught me—and this sounds obvious—is that behavior is a function of consequence.  We had to change the behavior in the organization so that people felt safe to bring bad news. And I looked in the mirror, and I realized I was part of the problem.  I didn’t want to hear the bad news, either. So I had to change how I behaved, and start to thank people for bringing me bad news. —Joseph Jimenez, chief executive of Novartis

The behavioral psychologist was brought in after a consulting group was paid to provide “better, more robust process, with more analytics,” which changed nothing.

When we started RampUp Solutions in 1999, we spent a good deal of effort coming up with a tag line that easily explained the services we provide.

After several iterations we finally settled on “To change what they do change how you think”

Over the years, I’ve heard and read story after story of how all kinds of changes—from turnarounds to improved productivity to retention — all started with a change in the way the boss thought.

And that applied whether the boss was CEO, team leader or somewhere in-between.

Stories and discussions about change tend to focus on the actions that bring about the changes, instead of starting at the beginning with the hardest work.

Work that requires the boss, at whatever level, changing the way they thinks and then dispersing and embedding those changes throughout their organization.

So before you hire expensive consultants or seek help from advisors look in the mirror to determine how much of the problem is you.

Image credit: manymeez

Continuing yesterday’s conversation regarding the need for good process in every size organization — the key word being “good.”

Good process, like all good things, starts with its ability to change, which, in turn, enables all kinds of good stuff.

Process won’t calcify if questioning fundamentals and avoiding the tradition trap is baked into your company DNA and you don’t forget that there are no absolutes.

Just as MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) is the why, process is the how.

And because MAP is constantly growing and changing, process must constantly develop to support it.

In short, process changes to make things happen, whereas bureaucracy is carved in stone and stops them.

Image credit: Dennis Jarvis

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Passion is good.

But passion unchecked yields freely to fanaticism.

Fanaticism paves the road to a closed mind.

Fanaticism in business leads directly to ‘not invented here’ syndrome.

Software giant SAP is known for its passion; not for its ability to play well with others, especially startups.

An attitude that is coming home to roost and motivating co-founder Hasso Plattner to change.

It was  “jealousy,” he said, and a “not-invented-here” mentality. “We always worked with other companies, but when they did not do exactly what we wanted them to do, then we developed all kinds of animosities.”

Now, the growing popularity of HANA, SAP’s new database, along with realization that the world has changed is driving change at the software giant.

Along with the normal things large corporations do to connect with startup—venture arm, pitching forums, hacking contests—Plattner is opening a 24-hour café complete with food, coffee, alcohol and even stand-up comedy.

“You know University Drive … the main drag …  in Palo Alto [Calif.]? We have acquired a nice location there and we will open the HANA Cafe by [our tech conference] Sapphire, so in three months.

“… We created it for these [startup] companies. They can come in. They can connect there. We’ll have all the electronic connections to 1,250 companies in the world. They want to have contact to Beijing, they can. … Startup companies can collaborate there. … This is what we want to support.”

SAP plans two more, in Berlin and Shanghai, all running 24 hours a day and fully connected.

New world. New product. New attitude.

The results won’t be in for months, but if stogy SAP does change it will be proof positive that any company can.

In the meantime you have a great, new place to work and hangout.

Image credit: HikingArtist

I’ve written many times about the importance of breaking down both horizontal and vertical silos (for more click the silo tag), but I don’t believe it can be done with an edict—even if that edict comes from Steve Ballmer.

This is especially true at a company like Microsoft, where the silos were intentionally built decades ago as part of the corporate structure.

Vertical silos, by nature, create, at the least, rivalry, but, more often, an “us against them” mentality within each silo.

For thousands of Microsofties, that’s the only cultural world they have known; many of them grew up in it, both in terms of years and promotions.

Changing culture is recognized as the most difficult organizational change any company, no matter the size, can undertake.

And one of the greatest error’s a CEO makes is thinking that all he needs on board is his senior staff the rest of people will fall in line.

For most companies, let alone one the size of Microsoft, terminating managers and workers that don’t fall in line isn’t even an option, since there is no way to replace them.

Yet having large numbers of your workforce on different cultural pages is a recipe for disaster.

The results of Ballmer’s changes will unfold over the next couple of years—in spite of Wall Street’s quarterly focus.

Changing culture is tremendously difficult; Charlie Brown didn’t pull it off at AT&T; Lou Gerstner said it was the most difficult part of turning around IBM.

Do you think Ballmer will succeed?

Flickr image credit: Tobyotter

“The stakes are high. You’re dealing with volatility. There are often secrets. … You often feel confused, at odds with a least one of your people, out of control.”

Do you ever feel this way when dealing with team members who are at odds?

It’s actually a quote by Richard Simon, editor of The Psychotherapy Networker (article in the NY Times), addressing the extremely high stress of being a couples therapist. (I did change ‘patient’ to ‘people’)

The parallels between couples therapy and managing are amazing—and frightening.

Frightening because too often these days people are making guns their solution of choice, so ignoring stuff may not be the best option.

Even managers with fantastic teams working in great companies with excellent cultures often feel stressed when dealing with the daily squabbles of normal human beings.

Downgrade any of those components and the stress goes up accordingly.

When dealing with the situation and resulting stress you need to recognize is that it’s not unique to you or your organization; it’s normal.

The first thing to do is make sure that you aren’t the source, but if your MAP is contributing to the problem apply whatever corrections are necessary to change that.

The second thing is to recognize that you have little choice but to act as a therapist on occasion, take time to learn a few of the tools and add them to your management skillset.

Because as much as your team and company will benefit from that knowledge, there is no question that you will benefit more.

Flickr image credit: cliff1066™

An excellent article called Saying No to the Boss (definitely worth reading) that highlights yet again the importance of fostering a culture that never kills the messenger, because it recognizes the importance of getting bad news soonest.

Jay Grinney, who replaced Richard Scushy as CEO of HealthSouth, made his first priority changing the culture.

“That culture was characterized by fear, intimidation, favoritism, a very ego-centric CEO.”

He confirms what everyone on the receiving end of culture knows, but often ignores when on the initiating end.

“I don’t think there’s any single formula for proving your intent. It has to be demonstrated in every single thing that I do and has to be reflected in the people I surround myself with.”

There are two very important thoughts in that comment, but the second often gets lost or falls victim to expediency.

The first is simple and obvious—actions speak louder than words; better known as talk is cheap.

The second requires more tenacity, because it often means passing on a candidate with great skills, but not a good cultural match.

If the CEO goes ahead and hires that person it does more than send a message that the new direction is a lie; it guarantees the wrong culture will be propagated, since that person will hire people true to her cultural vision, not the company’s.

Finally, Grinney points out the one of the worst errors any boss can make and it’s one that has had a higher profile in the last decade than ever before.

“One of the pitfalls of being the CEO is you can start believing your own press. The business world is full of examples of hubris taking over.”

In other words, don’t drink your own Kool-Aid.

From CEO to team leader, you have the ability to foster a culture of openness and safety or one of fear and intimidation.

As always, it’s your choice; make it consciously.

Fickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

Once again EYM is dedicated to culture. Five excellent articles showed up this week, mostly fairly short and very informative.

If you have followed Microsoft for many years you’ll know that it has never been known for its great caring, give-back culture. But times are changing; Microsoft is aging and it needs to get its cool back if it wants to have a shot at hiring the quality and quantity of people needed to remain relevant. Part of that effort is focused and driven by the philanthropic actions of alumni and employees.

“To attract the next generation of employees, making a social mission part of the company’s DNA has become a vital recruiting tool,” said Lisa Brummel, senior vice president for human resources.

Microsoft isn’t the only company changing its culture; take a look at what SAP has done.

…the effect on SAP of the co-CEOdom of Bill McDermott and J.H.Snabe seems to be truly dramatic. Without hesitation, I would say that I have never, in all my years of experience with high tech companies, or companies of any kind, seen such a fundamental transformation in the outlook, direction, and tenets of company life from any company than the one I’ve seen at SAP.

Now see how a national retailer of computers, electronics appliances and furniture has used sports to infuse its culture, brand its business and reach its customers.

Sports is something our employees and franchisees embrace, but most importantly, sports are engines we use to brand our company.

Next, from Working Mother learn how the five Best Companies for Multicultural Women are embedding diversity deeply in their cultural DNA.

Diversifying the workplace is one thing. Creating a companywide sense of belonging, and a deep knowledge that all employees are playing on the same team as equals, is quite another.

Finally, a quick note from Portland, OR wondering if the following is the start of a trend. What do you think?

“People have actually been coming up to me and telling me that they are in too nice of a building for their corporate culture.” Considering corporations on the whole have taken a beating in the forum of public opinion since the recession started, lots of them have set policy on what class of space local affiliates can be in. Some corporations have even cut back on the types of cars executives can drive and how flashy the offices can look.

Flickr photo credit to: pedroCarvalho on flickr

Have you noticed that all the stuff written about culture and how to create one that sparks innovation, attracts Millennials, boosts productivity, retains people, etc., consistently boils down to some pretty simple advice.

That lesson was driven home again in a Harvard Business Review post by Melissa Raffoni called Eight Things Your Employees Want From You.

Now think about the kind of culture created when the boss provides them,

Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules.

Discipline my coworker who is out of line.

Get me excited.

Don’t forget to praise me.

Don’t scare me.

Impress me.

Give me some autonomy.

Set me up to win.

The descriptions change from writer to writer, but the underlying principles stay the same and have for decades. In fact, workers have craved these basics for centuries, long before the idea of business culture took form.

So, if the desire is that ancient and the pay-back that great why don’t more managers provide the desired environment—they certainly talk enough about it.

Both experience and observation tell me that the lack of implementation tracks back to the boss’ MAP—and the boss’ unwillingness to change it.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

Be sure and check out what’s for breakfast with the boss from Hell

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