I am in day 10 of the quarantine, and so far nothing much to report. Not a lot of things to do except clean the bathroom, so time does move a bit slow. That’s ok though, as it is giving me time to exercise, read, and write. I’ve spent some time writing my next subject, regarding to a company’s culture. This will be the first in a several part series.
Culture is a valuable and critical element of any organization. There are many different aspects of a company’s culture, many of which come from the top of the organization, but other aspects are generated and propagated from other levels of the organization. In my experience, the most successful companies are those whose cultures align at all levels of the organization.
There are a number of elements that I think are generally necessary for successful organizations. One of the most important is to encourage an open environment where ideas and concerns are easily and openly shared among the team members. That kind of process needs to be encouraged. A second and just as critical one is Respect. It is imperative that everyone in an organization treats each other with dignity and respect – if you don’t, the group will not function well or at its potential. There are numerous other key elements to a culture, but I will now turn my thoughts to what I believe are Four Cornerstones of a Successful Culture.
Integrity, Intensity, Speed, Tenacity
These four cornerstones are important, particularly when an organization is in a very competitive or in a very fast growing industry. In my view, if you don’t have a certain measure of each of these, then the organization will either fail, or will at least flounder and will not reach it’s full potential.
Integrity
From my perspective, it all starts with Integrity. There are two key elements or definitions of integrity that are relevant to this cultural cornerstone. The first is the obvious one and is related to my Operating Principle of Do the Right Thing. It mans you follow the rules, procedures, laws, and regulations. It means you do the morally right thing. Don’t cross the line.
One example I routinely gave at one company is as follows: We had a wound care product that was made in different sizes, the larger the more expensive. It was made from placental tissue and rather expensive, but more importantly it was donated by mothers giving birth to healthy full-term babies. The material was precious and I viewed us as the Caretakers of the tissue. Our sales people were very well trained clinically and were well respected by the physicians who often listened to the technical information shared by our sales reps. Many times a doctor may ask the rep which size or shape to use on a particular wound and the right answer, with integrity should always be the smallest size that will get the job done. Sure, the bigger one would result in more revenue for the company, and the rep, but that would not be the RIGHT decision. I tell people all the time that decisions like this have ramifications. If you recommend the right size, it not only efficiently uses the precious material, but it keeps costs down. By keeping costs down, you can more efficiently and cost effectively manage the cost of wound closure. This then effects reimbursement and availability of the product. If the product is used routinely in an inefficient manner, it could seriously impede the future availability of the product as well as government or insurance payment. So recommending the larger size may pan out in the short term, but it would undoubtedly be a bad thing for the the future. So it goes back to Integrity and Doing the Right Thing, which in turn creates long term stability.
The second aspect of Integrity is that of Completeness. Think of a building or a bridge’s structural integrity. It means it is complete, or whole; strong. This is also an essential part of an organization. This is where the Operating Principle of Say What You Do, Do What You Say comes into play. When you are part of an organization, you and everyone else make commitments along the way. In a company where the completeness aspect of Integrity is weak, you will notice several things. The first is that deadlines will be routinely missed. The second and a bit more subtle point is that when people try to make commitments, they will be soft, mushy, or non-specific, yet their peers let them get away with commitments as firm as a bowl of Jell-O. Real commitments are specific. Rather than saying “I’ll get it done next week”, say “I’ll complete the new sales report by close of business on Wednesday of next week.” Then you hold yourself accountable and make sure you complete the task by that date. Then be sure you inform whoever you made the commitment to that you are done – rather than expecting him or her to go look on the network drive for the report – close the loop! That is completing the task with Integrity.
If for some reason, whether personal, or a higher priority project or whatever, it looks like you will miss the deadline – let people know as soon as you suspect it will be late. Don’t wait until the deadline – or worse – after it passed – to inform the person that you will miss the deadline. What if that person made a commitment to someone else that the information in your report would be ready by that date? As soon as you suspect that you will be late, you notify the person you made the commitment to and give them revised date. Explain the reason it will be late and keep them informed of your progress. This is how Integrity is maintained in a world of ever-changing priorities.
Wherever you are now, pay attention to the commitments you make and the specifics that you give and then to your results. Also watch those around you. See how specific people are and how well they make or manage their commitments. You may be surprised at how small modifications in your approach can actually make a big difference.