SHIP, SHIPMATE, SELF | Issue #27
In the latest Leadership Bulletin, we focus in on company culture and ask: "what makes a good statement of culture?"
Welcome to the latest edition of The Leadership Bulletin, a regular newsletter from Lee David Evans and Edfolio on the issues that matter to leaders and managers.
This week, our ‘In Focus’ section looks at a topic which many management experts think is the most important determinant of success in an organisation: culture.
I hope you find it useful.
IN FOCUS: WHAT MAKES A GOOD STATEMENT OF COMPANY CULTURE?
No manager should be in any doubt about the importance of culture in their organisation. Get your culture right and an organisation can have contended staff, a clear focus and avoid the pitfalls of unethical behaviour. Get it wrong, or fail to implement your company culture properly, and organisations can be like rudderless ships floating aimlessly from one problem to the next.
As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
I’ve been doing some work on company culture recently and it’s been fascinating to look at statements and analyses of cultures that work and - perhaps most importantly - those that don’t. Throughout my research, I’ve been asking myself one key question: what makes a good statement of company culture?
The statement of culture is something many organisations have. It was probably drafted some years ago; it’s most likely on your website or intranet. And if my recent experience is anything to go by, it will be mostly forgotten or completely unknown to most of your staff (except the marketing team, who usually have the most obvious reason to keep the flame of a positive company culture burning).
If that sounds like your organisation, I bet it’s because your statement of company culture doesn’t contain the three core components they need to be effective. Here they are:
Brief. A statement of culture must be succinct, rather than complex. Staff must be able to easily learn and remember it. After all, it’s a statement - not a policy.
Understandable. A cultural statement doesn’t have to contain all the features of how you want to work - if you’re too ambitious with it, it will lose meaning. Instead, you should focus on the most important aspect of culture you really want to emphasise.
Framework. As well as being a statement, it should also be a framework that staff can use in situational decision-making. I recommend using your culture statement to help people put theory into practice.
How might you put that into effect? Here’s an example, said to be used by the U.S. Navy, of a culture statement that follows those rules: “Ship, Shipmate, Self”. It’s a way to remember the order of your responsibilities and duties: (1) to the interests of the entire organisation; (2) to the interests of your team; (3) to yourself.
In some sectors - like the armed forces - that is essential. In others, it may not be a good fit. But I think the structure and style of the statement is helpful for anybody thinking of ways to capture the desired culture in a form that is memorable and useful to your team.
What’s your company statement of culture? Is it brief? Can it be easily understood? And does it offer employees a framework for thinking about the ways in which they should work?
EARLY FEEDBACK ON ‘SIX MONTHS TO GREAT MANAGEMENT’
Working on Edfolio’s first e-learning course - Six Months to Great Management - was a real labour of love. And hearing some of the early feedback from learners has made it all worthwhile! In particular, it’s great to see managers embrace the way we have ditched the theoretical models and instead focused on practical skills within the course. You can read more about the course and how it works by clicking here.
ONE RULE TO TRANSFORM YOUR PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY.
We talk a lot - in this bulletin and more widely in the business community - about productivity. Well, this simple rule transformed my personal productivity: I stopped organising meetings for the morning. If you’re like me - or most people - the morning is the best time to be productive. It’s when we find it easiest to stay focused and work on tasks that require deep thought and sustained concentration. So I decided to protect that time for those tasks. In the afternoon - when the post-lunch slump kicks in - is often the time when we most need a pick-me-up. And I find that the best time to have a meeting. This won’t be the case for everyone - a smaller number of people are “night owls”, even as they age - but I’m convinced that morning meetings are a productivity drain. Do you agree?
THE TRUE COST OF MEETINGS.
What would knowing the “cost” of meetings do to your perception of their value? The below tweet from 0xgaut considers whether Google Calendar could show the financial cost - calculated by employees’ time - of holding a meeting. Personally, I love the idea of this. If we’re aiming to have more meaningful meetings, I can think of few better ways than by calculating the opportunity cost of them. (One caveat, of course, is that anybody with sight of the cost per attendee would be able to figure out their colleagues’ salary!).