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Culture Change
/in Nuggets and Encouragement Regarding Strategy and Focus/by Tom DoescherI’m sure I’ll offend someone with this post, but here goes. For years, I have seriously questioned whether you can change a culture. To me, the culture is the culture. Even so, there are lots of consultants who make good money advising clients on how to change their culture (by the way, some of these consultants are good friends of mine). On March 21, 2016, I posted “How the Mighty Fall” about Arthur Andersen, a company that for decades had an amazing culture, but still failed (read the post). AA, as we called them, had a great culture. What happened?
Well, I recently read “Culture is Not the Culprit“ in the April 2016 Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2016/04/culture-is-not-the-culprit) and had an epiphany. The authors, Jay Lorsch (whom I had the privilege of interacting with at a Harvard executive program) and Emily McTague, said: “… culture is not something you ‘fix.’ Rather … cultural change is what you get after you’ve put new processes or structures in place … .”
I know what you’re thinking. This sounds like consultant mumbo jumbo, but it’s exactly what Alan Mulally did at Ford Motor Co., which the authors explain. In one of his first management meetings at Ford, Mulally found that all his direct reports brought their assistants to the meeting (picture two huge circles with the direct reports in the inner circle and their No. 2 in the outer circle). When a question came up, the direct reports would defer the answer to their No. 2. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mulally excused the assistants and then told the direct reports that, in the future, they needed to answer the questions — and the No. 2s were no longer invited.
Often, we want to make business more glamorous-sounding, but it’s a lot about accountability, taking responsibility, focusing on the customer/client, treating team members with respect, and what I like to call just basic blocking and tackling.
So, in simple English, don’t focus on the culture. Focus on doing the basics right. Take good care of the customer and your team members.
Are you thinking you need a culture change? If your answer is yes, are your basic processes working well? Really?
p.s. As I’ve said to many of you, it ain’t easy running a company.
This is “Really” Being Focused on the Customer
/in Extraordinary Customer/Client Service/by Tom DoescherBarbara recently took her leased vehicle in for service. As the customer service rep was checking her in and reviewing the vehicle’s history, he noted that she had previously been charged for maintenance that was included in the lease. Really? He then went on to tell her that he would process a check to refund her for the erroneous charge. Really? Really? About a month later, the dealership check arrived in our mailbox. Really? Really? Really?
As a regular reader of my posts, you know how hung up I am on customer service. This may be one of my best stories so far. You also know that I talk a lot about having your team members behave like owners. Think about it. No one would ever have known the difference — not us (the customer) or the boss (dealer/owner).
Leaning In is Harder Than You Think
/in Ideas to help you build a solid team/by Tom DoescherI had the good fortune of being influenced by a visionary. Frank Moran was a champion for women executives back when author Sheryl Sandberg was in elementary school. In the 1970s, he asked a very successful Plante Moran partner, who happened to be a woman, to help the firm figure out how to best recruit, develop, and encourage young women executives. The firm did a lot of things right — and I’m sure we did a few things wrong — but our intent was always pure.
I found Sandberg’s book, Lean In, refreshing. So often, people try to portray themselves as super-human, but I found Sandberg to be very transparent, and I think her book is a must-read for business women and men. I thought Chapter 7, “Don’t Leave Before You Leave,” was especially relevant. I have several very successful executive clients who are women, and I have encouraged each one of them not to say, “I’m not interested in being CEO (or whatever).” You never know where you might climb, and why exclude yourself from consideration some day? You can always say “No, thank you,” if you’re not interested when an offer is made, but why would you drop out prematurely?
Sandberg also does a very nice job of discussing mentoring in Chapter 5, and talking about giving and receiving developmental feedback in Chapter 6. She offers terrific advice to both women and men.
If you’re a leader and you have female executives, do you really understand their special challenges? What would they say if I asked them?
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