At the CEO Institute conference I attended earlier this year, the audience was asked what kept us up at night. Most attendees are CEOs and executives, plus a few of their keynote speakers like myself. The top 2 items on the conference screen in a word-cloud were:
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People
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Culture
I think it is interesting to see these 2 top sources of concern, amidst a business environment that is more uncertain that ever before. Last week, I focused on the strategic implications of AI, a major source of uncertainty. Today, let’s dive into culture, and how you can accelerate your strategic initiatives within your given culture.
Culture is an Asset, not a Barrier
Although culture can be challenging, it shouldn’t be a barrier to your strategy. In fact, once you understand how to navigate it, your culture can be a significant asset.
I’ve seen executives transplant “best practice” implementation models that have worked for them in previous organisations. They then fail spectacularly when forcing this onto their new organization that has a completely different way of working.
For example, what works in a performance-oriented tech firm won’t work in a risk-averse government agency. I have worked in both and what I have learned is that that the entire execution architecture and approach needs to be tailored to the culture. I’ve seen experienced execs exited for subtle mismatches in their approach.
What works in a compliance-driven culture can be frowned upon in a creative, entrepreneurial one, and vice-versa. Change leaders, business executives and project professionals must respect how decisions are made, how risk is managed, and how people behave when no one’s watching. That is, we must respect the current workplace culture. No matter how much we want the culture itself to change.
3 Tips for Optimizing with Culture
Here are 3 tips for adjusting your strategy implementation process to optimize the culture you already have:
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Focus your business rationale on what will appeal to your culture.
Simon Sinek has encouraged millions worldwide to start with their “WHY”. But this “why”, the business rationale, needs to be adjusted to appeal to your culture, else it will fall on deaf ears. For example, if your culture is strongly client-oriented, then your rationale needs to benefit the client (or customer). -
Adapt implementation program governance to match cultural norms. For example, risk-averse cultures need more structured governance for sign-offs and decisions; performance-oriented cultures thrive on outcome-focused metrics with looser governance. Either way people need to see how their work is linked to the strategy (see my recent LinkedIn video on this).
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Design your change management approach to suit your culture. In a risk-averse culture, people need assurance that due process has been followed; where-as in a performance-oriented organization, people will expect to have a wide range of flexibility in how and when they participate in the change, as long as the business outcomes are optimized.
Once you learn how to adjust to culture, you will get more traction, less resistance, and faster results. It’s not a compromise. You can still change your culture over time. Culture-Friendly, Human-Centered Design creates approaches that work with your culture, rather than pushing up against it and hitting a wall of opposition. It’s a critical part of the flywheel that I’ve written about.
“65% say that culture is more important to performance than an organization’s strategy or operating model.”
Jon Katzenbach, Katzenbach Centre Global Culture Survey 2018. (I’d expect this to be even higher if this survey was repeated in 2025 due to post-Covid shift to hybrid work, increased workplace mental health issues, AI and the overall pace of change.)
PS More Ways to Accelerate your Strategy
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About Lisa Carlin
Lisa Carlin is a Strategy Execution Specialist. She works with business leaders to go from strategy to plan to result, in tough environments. Her clients love having her expertise and guidance to navigate their workplace culture and use AI to achieve success.
Lisa is author of the globally acclaimed newsletter, Turbocharge Weekly, read by 8,000 business leaders.
Lisa’s career includes roles at McKinsey and Accenture, then running her own business since 1999. Over this time she has delivered over 50 implementations with a 96% success rate.