Supporting values with behaviors

Identifying and communicating your organizational values is a good first step, but that alone is unlikely to affect your corporate culture.

The important step is to link each value to specific behaviors. What does “respect” mean in a hospital? What does it mean on the shop floor of a defense contractor? What does it mean for a truck driver? You must be as specific as possible. Define the behaviors, provide examples, write stories.

And then you must hold everyone accountable. If you tolerate behaviors that are not aligned with your standards, you will get the culture you deserve.

HT to https://communitynewspapers.com/biscayne-bay/the-importance-of-your-corporate-culture/

For a good example of behaviors supporting values, check out http://unitedbyvalues.utc.com/

Ethics & Compliance Initiative Fellows Meeting (Day 1)

Yesterday was Day 1 of the ECI Fellows meeting. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:

  • If your E&C function has a poor relationship with the communication/marketing function of your organization, you are not alone. According to an ECI membership survey, our relationship with the C&M function is the worse among all functions. This is concerning given the importance of communication in changing or improving culture. Some ideas to address this problem (if you have it) include: (1) taking steps to improve the relationship with members of the C&M function; (2) hire C&M talent directly into the E&C function; or (3) make sure your next E&C hire has an affinity for C&M activities.
  • According to a different membership survey, organizations will soon look to hire more candidates with a certification or a specialized degree in E&C. Indeed, we see more and more professional associations and universities offering E&C certifications/degrees. It’s not clear which trend results from the other. Meanwhile, no one has identified the capabilities and skills that an E&C professional should have.
  • First there was “speak up”. Then, there was “listen up”. Now, there’s “follow up”. I love this evolution. It recognizes that no one will speak up if we don’t believe that we’ll be listened to and that something will be done.
  • “Stories put babies to sleep and send soldiers to war.” I had never heard this expression before and it was a great reminder that humans are moved by narrative. If stories can send soldiers to war, then surely they are powerful enough to create the organization culture we need. Are you using stories?
  • Research has demonstrated that when an organization’s leadership doesn’t walk the talk (i.e. they creates policies and processes that are not aligned with the stated values), employees are less likely to be truthful with the leadership. Employees will tell leadership what they want to hear instead of the truth. Facebook seems to be experiencing this at the moment.
  • Food for thought: resilience = influence.
  • Your tactical performance is only as good as your ability to learn from the past. Your adaptive performance is only as good as your ability to learn for the future. Thus, learning is the only way to sustainably improve performance.

I’m ready for Day 2.

On feeling safe

A few years ago, I had a great idea at work.

It was novel. It was exciting. All employees would be involved. We created a great website using the latest audio and video technology. We spent $70K on this because we knew it would work.

If failed. Miserably.

The good news is that we figured out why it didn’t work and learned our lesson.

The better news (from a selfish perspective) is that my boss didn’t get upset. Despite the hours and the dollars spent/wasted, he focussed on the learning. It made me feel safe and trusted. It gave me permission to try again. It turned my work into play.

A good leader draws out the best from her employees by making them feel safe.

Impact and intent

Almost on a daily basis, humans confuse impact for intent.

If someone else’s behavior impacts us negatively, we ascribe a negative intent to that person. But often it’s not the case.

Just like the neighbor’s dog wasn’t trying to wake you up at 2 AM, the person who cut you off in traffic might have been rushing to an emergency. And the colleague who didn’t invite you to a meeting could have been distracted just before clicking the send button.

Assume positive intent. It’ll have a positive impact on your well-being.

All behaviors are belief-driven

The candidate wears a suit to the interview because he believes that this is what is expected.

Your manager tells you immediately about changes that will impact your career because she believes in transparency.

The executive asks his assistant to complete the executive’s online ethics training on his behalf because he believe he will get away with it.

The next time you encounter bad behavior at work, try to identify the belief behind it. Then work on changing this belief across the company. That’s how you’ll change behavior.

On rights and obligations

The U.S. Bill of Rights was ratified this month in 1791.

For every right it conferred, the Bill created several obligations on the very government that granted those rights.

And that’s the hidden truth of rights. When you demand one, you create several obligations for other people.

This reality can serve as a check on the fairness of your demands. If the right you demand serves all people (and not just you), then everyone is more likely to accept the burden of the ancillary obligations.

Problems and relationships

A simple problem can be solved with a simple checklist of things to do.

A complicated problem is a collection of simple problems that can all be solved with simple checklists of things to do.

A complex problem requires two types of checklists. A checklist of things to do and a checklist of things to discuss with other people.

In the world of ethics and compliance, many of our problems are complex and cannot be solved without strong relationships with other company functions.

How much of your day are you spending developing those key relationships?

Hat tip to Atul Gawande