Read time: 4 minutes
In this edition
This week’s newsletter continues on the topic of cultivating a corporate culture that is characterized by positive mimesis. This time we will be looking at ensuring the organization’s resilience and evolution over time.
But before we go there, I wanted to thank all of you who have helped with my Scorecard. I have learned a lot from it and will be summarizing what I heard from you next week.
If you haven’t tested it, I would be grateful if you would. The Scorecard is designed to assist leaders in assessing and optimizing their company’s execution. Just click below to get started.
Now, on to culture. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.
Architecting a Positive Culture (Part 4): Resilience and evolution
This week we continue our discussion of how to create a corporate culture that is conducive to positive mimesis. Last week we spoke about the people—how to hire folks who are both functionally and emotionally/psychologically competent. This week, we are talking about how to ensure the organization evolves in ways that are conducive to the preservation and enhancement of the culture.
Your business will ultimately evolve and face a variety of pressures over time. Your people will naturally evolve as well. It becomes imperative then to do two things. One of them is to understand the impact of these changes. The other is to keep your people engaged and developing professionally. Below are five ways to accomplish this.
- Develop continuous learning programs. Encourage ongoing education and development in both functional skills and behaviors, especially for managers and new leaders. This could include workshops, seminars, mentorship and peer learning, and access to online learning resources to keep the team updated with the latest industry trends and practices. These should be personalized to cater to individual needs and career aspirations.
- Conduct regular planning and strategy sessions. Conduct periodic strategy sessions to review goals, assess progress, and adjust plans as needed. These sessions can help anticipate market changes, enabling the organization to pivot in advance. Involve people from across the business in these sessions to ensure a broad range of perspectives are considered.
- Monitor your metrics. Keep a constant eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to gauge the organization’s health and performance—both financially and culturally. Regularly reviewing these metrics can help identify trends and potential areas of change early. Be sure these metrics are aligned with long-term strategic goals and not just short-term performance indicators.
- Schedule top-down and bottom-up feedback sessions: Implement structured feedback sessions involving all team members. These sessions provide insights into the team’s sentiment and can surface ideas for improvements or adjustments before issues become problematic. As mentioned above, it is crucial to act on the feedback to demonstrate its value to the team.
- “Stress test” the business under different scenarios. Periodically conduct scenario planning exercises to see how your business might react under different situations, however far-fetched they might be. This can include economic downturns, market disruptions, or operational crises. By analyzing how these scenarios impact different aspects of your business, you can identify and strengthen areas of vulnerability. Incorporate what you learn from these stress tests into your processes and training and development programs.
Next week: Challenges and solutions to overcome them when implementing a positive culture
LinkedIn Roundup
I am now doing 60-second videos on topics related to execution! I’m excited about this as it gives people the ability to know me in a different way. Here are the things I talked about this past week on Linkedin.
- Monday – no post
- Tuesday – no post
- Wednesday – Four pillars to great execution
- Thursday – Pillar #1: Vision
- Friday – Pillar #2: People
When you’re ready, there are two other ways I can help. Email me at hello@jddeitch.com for more information.
Business Advisory
I help growth-stage leaders and investors in B2B tech-enabled services businesses align strategy with execution. I focus on the twin engines of execution excellence—process and people—to transform your business, paving the way for growth and enhanced profitability.
Transaction Support
With 20+ years of operating experience and a substantial M&A track record, I help investors evaluate strategic and operational strengths and weaknesses and navigate post-deal risks to unlock value.