Asked how culture work changes at scale, Joe offers three levers. First, you must be able to measure the culture and run experiments on it — otherwise you change a performance-review format or bonus structure and never actually know whether it moved anything. Set parameters, measure, iterate, just like any experiment in a life.
Second, institutionalized change is far more effective than one-on-one or team-level intervention. Coaching helps, and an offsite can help, but they aren’t institutional. The practices baked into how the organization runs — requiring an action item at the end of every email, how accountability is held, how principles are owned, how meetings run, an hour where no one communicates so people can just work — influence culture more than any individual intervention.
“Institutionalized change is far more effective than one-on-one intervention or team intervention.”
Third, the consciousness of the leadership is usually reflected in the organization, especially over time. Joe sees his own strengths and shortfalls mirrored in the company, so tending his own consciousness affects the culture — “a spit at the top is a waterfall at the bottom.” It shapes who gets hired, how information flows, and how decisions get made.
Related Concepts
- Your consciousness is the product you deliver to the world
- Principles make decisions for you
- You can’t build a culture you can’t see in yourself
- Organizations must remove fear to enable innovation
- A company is just relationships and decisions
- Changing behavior is the most efficient way to change consciousness
- Goals and culture are experiments, not mandates
- Structural changes beat direct interventions for culture
- Reward failure to create innovative culture