The Right Culture

The culture of a business is often overlooked by leaders. Or if considered at all is thought to be of little consequence. After all, as long as the clients are happy and buying, business is great, right? However, the very question of how successful we will be and for how long lay in our business culture.

According to The Conference Board of Canada – Learning and Development Outlook 2005 report, “Only about a quarter of organizations (28%) believe that risk taking is actively encouraged and supported. Likewise, only 30% feel that failures are constructively discussed.”

This response reflects the lack of an innovative and learning culture in the majority of Canadian organizations. Unless employees are comfortable adapting a different approach to their tasks, they will always do just what they have always done. Unfortunately, with the rapid advance of both technology and competition, “what they have always done” is not good enough. The sales rep who continues to rely on mail for contact with customers will soon be outpaced by the rep using on-line social networks and the internet for connections.

To help determine whether an organization encourages reasoned risk taking, look to the answers to two questions:

• When was the last time an employee presented an improvement to what they do or how they do it?
• Are employees aware of how to document, measure and improve their work processes?

Based on the answer to these two questions, it is possible to identify whether or not the organization has a continuous improvement culture. With a no to either question, the need to change has been identified.

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 3 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email to betterway@newmanlearning.com.