Changing Corporate Culture

June 13th, 2009

by John R. Sedivy

opponent I recently read an article in the New York Times called “U.S. Takes On The Insular GM Culture”. This article describes the difficulty that the U.S. government is likely going to have in changing the culture of U.S. automaker General Motors even with the $50 billion bailout package provided. According to the referenced article, this prediction is based upon the current behavior of GM executives as well as historical attempts at changing corporate culture. This article caused me to reflect upon the difficulties that I have found with changing corporate culture and why saying this is a difficult task is likely a gross understatement.

What’s The Big Deal?
Changing human behavior is tough, sometimes downright impossible. It becomes even more difficult as an individual ages and becomes set in their ways. I once read in a book called “8 Weeks To Optimum Health” where the author states that it takes eight weeks to change a habit. This is for only one individual attempting to change one habit. To simplify this concept consider your personal experience with exercise, diet, or even work related habits. How easy is it to make a profound change in your life? My guess is if you are like most, not very. It takes discipline, dedication, and a significant incentive at the end – and this does not even guarantee success.

A corporation or any other organization is similar, although it does get more complicated. Instead of changing one habit of one individual, it becomes many habits of many individuals. How many individuals? It depends on the size of the organization – perhaps tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. As you add more people to the picture, the task becomes more complicated.

One other piece further complicates matters – the time the habits have been in place add to the complexity. Have the individual(s) been performing the destructive habit automatically for one year, multiple years, a decade, or multiple decades? The longer the length of time a habit is in place, the harder it is to break.

Forced positive change is rarely successful, it generally must come from the inside. Everyone involved must have a vested interest and desire to push the change, or it becomes even more difficult. As an individual, desired change must be deep-seated, there must be a burning desire. As a collection of individuals, the change must be a grassroots effort, rising from the bottom of the organization, effected by all parts, not merely a mandate dictated by management.

What Should We Do?
So what is one to do when confronted with the need to change a culture? The most effective means is by discontinuous change which entails wiping the slate clean and starting with something new. The rationale being it is much easier to create something new, then change the old – which I tend to agree with. Entrepreneurs, especially those in the high-tech sectors understand this philosophy. Innovation rarely originates from large organizations, but emanates from small, hungry start-ups. To learn more about discontinuous change refer to my article titled “Discontinuous Change” and discover the benefits of this approach.

Cultural change is difficult and time consuming, it is generally most effective to start anew!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding