In our Stanford Advanced Project Management (SAPM) program we spend a significant amount of time on the criticality of culture to successful mexecution of strategy through project-based work. Jon Katzenbach and Ashley Harshak have an excellent article in the forthcoming issue of the execellent journal, strategy+business, Stop Blaming Your Culture. Some of the many practices they discuss include:
- start pragmatically
- use both formal and informal ways to reinforce behaviors (Katzenbach has explored the power of informal structures in large organizations. An excellent overview can be downloaded here.)
- build on and use the culture you already have
- seek out role models for the new behaviors.
- model what matters most
- clarify specific implications of the new behavior.
If you lead large initiative, projects, programs, global teams--this is worth your time to read and learn.
Repeated behaviors have cultural impact because they are contagious. People unconsciously imitate what they see others do.