A framework for approaching
Cultural Change
David T Lee
October 2013
@heydavidly
www.linkedin.com/in/davidtailee
The following is a framework for addressing culturalchange. It is based on cultural changes seen in bothcorporate and public environments.
Using this framework, we can develop programs tomove an organization towards a culture in which ithopes to operate vs the culture in which it currentlyoperates.
A framework for approaching
Cultural Change
Here is everyone.
These are the people who you are trying to influence.
Here are your RULEMAKERS. These are the people who have theability to official changes to policies, incentive plans, or laws.
RULEMAKERS
Here are your ACTIVISTS. These are the motivated people who areleading the effort to change. Sometimes they have leadershippositions, sometimes they do not.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
When your RULEMAKERS and ACTIVISTS are aligned, the populationwill more easily move toward the intended behavior. When the rulessupport the intended movement, progress can be mandated.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
Consider the Civil Rights Actof 1964. The RULEMAKERS(Congress) move to support ofthe work of the ACTIVISTS (CivilRights leaders) and large scalecultural progress is formalized.
Sometimes there are ANTI-ACTIVISTS. These are motivated peoplewho actively look to reach a different (or opposite) goal than yourACTIVISTS.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
ANTI-ACTIVITISTS
When the ANTI-ACTIVISTS influence as strongly as the ACTIVISTS, theirefforts cancel out and the population doesn’t move. This stalemate willpersist if the RULEMAKERS do not exert an influence one way or another.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
ANTI-ACTIVITISTS
An example of this is thedebate around abortion inthe US. Here, both sides worktirelessly to influence. In contrastto attitudes towards civil rights, thepopulation has moved hardly at all since the 1960’s.
There are also OUTSIDERS who are not subject to the influence ofeither the RULEMAKERS or the ACTIVISTS. However, they areimportant because they provide social proof to the population.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
ANTI-ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
When the OUTSIDER position is heavily polarized compared to thetarget population, there may be movement regardless of what theRULEMAKERS or ACTIVISTS want to see happen.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
In a corporate environment,this can be seen when allother competitors in anindustry adopt a practice ordevelop a service.
Examples includeairlines charging forchecked bags or banksloosening underwritingstandards to staycompetitive.
It’s important to consider that sometimes the OUTSIDERS may bemuch, much larger than the target population.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
The OUTSIDERpopulation mightbe huge!
Nirvana for cultural change occurs when the RULEMAKERS,ACTIVISTS, and OUTSIDERS all align to paint a vision of the futurethat seems clear to everyone.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
Weak / Non-existentANTI-ACTIVITISTS
A clear example of this is thedot-com boom of the late 90’swhere everyone saw the value ofdoing business on the internet.
You can group your population into three subsets regarding theadoption of cultural change. SUPPORTERS and SKEPTICS take moreand less adoptive stances towards the change. THE CROWD isindifferent with the change, but will move with the larger audience.
SUPPORTERS
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
As you make progress towards cultural change, you will see thepopulation of SUPPORTERS grow and SKEPTICS shrink. Obviously, apopulation with more SUPPORTERS is easier to move.
SUPPORTERS
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
To accelerate cultural change, stories of HEROES demonstratingmodel behavior need to be shared and celebrated. The SKEPTICSneed to be shown PROOF that the new ways are better.
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
HEROES
SUPPORTERS
PROOF
Nordstrom and Zappos spenda lot of time cultivatingHEROES and sharing storiesin their culture.
Lou Gerstner used his ownbehavior and financialresults as PROOF to win overthe SKEPTICS whiletransforming IBM.
ACTIVISTS and RULEMAKERS need to provide OPPORTUNITIES forSUPPORTERS to become HEROES. This can be though arranging eventsor simply giving people PERMISSION to exhibit the model behavior.
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
TO BE A HERO
SUPPORTERS
OPPORTUNITIES
From the Civil Rightsmovement, Rosa Parks wasasked to play the role of HERO.
In business, the RULEMAKERS atLockheed Martin separated aSkunk Works® team to workoutside the normal rules.
Google and 3M build theseopportunities into the everydaywork life of their engineers.
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
SUPPORTERS
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
1.RULEMAKERS give PERMISSION and incentive
to ACTIVISTS and SUPPORTERS to exhibitmodel behaviors.
2.ACTIVISTS work to create OPPORTUNITIESfor SUPPORTERS to become HEROES.
3.HERO STORIES are shared withSUPPORTERS and THE CROWD togive energy to the movement.
4.Real-world results and evidencefrom OUTSIDERS are shared withSKEPTICS as PROOF that thiscultural movement is the morevalid model for the future.
HEROES
How it can work together
OUTSIDERS
HERO STORIES
+ PROOF
OPPORTUNITIES
CULTURAL CHANGE
PERMISSION
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
ANTI-ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
SUPPORTERS
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
HERO STORIES
+ PROOF
PERMISSION
OPPORTUNITIES
CULTURAL CHANGE
A Framework for Cultural Change
RULEMAKERS
ACTIVITISTS
ANTI-ACTIVITISTS
OUTSIDERS
SUPPORTERS
SKEPTICS
THE CROWD
There are two common actors in cultural change that arepurposefully avoided in this framework:
VILLAINS
These are the people whose actions represent the direct opposite behaviorof the HEROES. In this framework, these actors could be consideredHEROES to the ANTI-ACTIVISTS. This framework asserts that VILLAINSTORIES will be counterproductive for the change effort, because it acts topolarize and energize the SKEPTICS and ANTI-ACTIVISTS.
EXTREMISTS
These are far-end activists. In the real-world, these may materialize asfringe organizations or individual radicals. It’s important to recognize thatthese actors may help a cause by painting the moderate ACTIVISTS as morereasonable actors. However, in a corporate environment, EXTREMISTS areprobably not tolerated (for long) and don’t need to be incorporated in thisframework.
Who is avoided in this framework?