The Practice of Leadership » Culture

Netflix Takes Culture Seriously

George Ambler — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:00:29 +0000

Extract from the Netflix “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture”

The shaping of culture is a critical leadership responsibility, as I have discussed on many occasions. One of the best examples of this is the observation made by Lou Gerstner, the former IBM CEO who is credited with IBM’sturnaround, in his book on the turnaround “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?” wrote that…

“I came to see in my time at IBM that ‘culture’ isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game.”

It seems that Netflix understands the critical importance of culture in their success. This post discusses how serious Netflix are about creating a culture that support their continued business success. To support their journey they have published a 128-page presentation called “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture” that was sent around the company, and then put on SlideShare.

Culture

View more presentations from reed2001.

After going through the presentation, you get the feeling that Netflix intends to be different to other companies and as a result to behave differently to other large companies.

Extract from the Netflix “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture”

What is your current best thinking about what you need to do to maximize your likelihood of continuous success?
How well is this thinking articulated?
Do people know about it?
Is it creating new conversations?

How Leaders Embed and Transmit Culture

George Ambler — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:54:58 +0000

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Culture is often defined as “the way we do things around here”. Organisational culture is the leaders responsibility as “culture is the shadow of the leader”. If this is true the question is how is the culture embedded and transmitted by leaders? Edgar Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” provide some clues. In the book Edgar lists the following:

“Primary Embedding Mechanisms
What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control on a regular basis
How leaders react to critical incidents and organizational crises
How leaders allocate resources
Deliberate role modeling, teaching, and coaching
How leaders allocate rewards and status
How leaders recruit, select, promote and excommunicate
Secondary Articulation and Reinforcement Mechanisms
Organizational design and structure
Organizational systems and procedures
Rites and rituals of the organization
Design of physical space, facades, and buildings
Stories about important events and people
Formal statements of organizational philosophy, creeds, and charters”

As leaders we are responsible for our organisations and teams culture. We cannot blame others, we cannot blame the past, we must take responsibility to create a new future. Reflecting on the above lists what shadow are you casting?

How Leaders Shape an Organisation’s Culture

George Ambler — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:02:19 +0000

When Jason Fried from 37signals was asked “How did you create the culture at 37signals?” he answered as follows:

“You don’t create a culture. Culture happens. It’s the by-product of consistent behavior. If you encourage people to share, and you give them the freedom to share, then sharing will be built into your culture. If you reward trust then trust will be built into your culture.
Artificial
Artificial cultures are instant. They’re big bangs made of mission statements, declarations, and rules. They are obvious, ugly, and plastic. Artificial culture is paint.
Real
Real cultures are built over time. They’re the result of action, reaction, and truth. They are nuanced, beautiful, and authentic. Real culture is patina.
Don’t think about how to create a culture, just do the right things for you, your customers, and your team and it’ll happen.”

Whilst I agree with Jason’s view, that a) culture takes time to develop and b) the culture is a by-product of consistent behaviour, culture doesn’t “just happen“. Culture is the shadow of the leader. If Jason means that culture just happens, if you have the right leadership, then I support his view, and perhaps that is what he is say. The with the right leadership… culture just happens! Organisations that set out to create or build a culture, without changing the leadership behaviours, results in what Jason refers to as artificial cultures.

In the end, culture determines who’s in and who’s out…. Once you have the right leadership in place … then … culture just happens.

Are you purposefully acting to develop your organisation’s culture?
Do you have the right leadership in place?
Are you hiring and promoting people who reinforce the culture you’re trying to develop?

Leader: Are You Purposely Shaping Your Culture?

George Ambler — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:12:24 +0000

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An organisation’s culture can be a source of competitive advantage or a huge obstacle to achieving its goals. The importance of culture really struck me after reading “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?“, in the book Lou Gersner, the former CEO and Chairman of IBM, reflects on the turnaround he orchestrated during his tenure….

“I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value. Vision, strategy, marketing, financial management – any management system, in fact – can set you on the right path and can carry you for a while. But no enterprise – whether in business, government, education, health care, or any area of human endeavor – will succeed over the long haul if those elements aren’t part of its DNA.”

As Gerstner proved, in the turnaround of IBM, that leaders can shape and indeed change an organisation’s culture. The fact that Lou Gerstner could change the culture, of one of the world’s largest organisations should give hope and inspiration to all leaders. Leaders are instrumental in shaping an organisations culture a post from Anecdote describes the leaders role….

“…Edgar Schein noted a decade ago: cultures are largely created and modified by the actions of the organisation’s leaders. And here we view leadership in its broadest sense as someone who people take notice of and follow their lead. There are a relatively small set of things leaders do that affect culture:
What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control on a regular basis
How leaders react to critical incidents and organisational crises
How leaders allocate resources
Deliberate role modelling, teaching, and coaching
How leaders allocate rewards and status
How leaders recruit, select, promote, and excommunicate
The short-hand for this list is, ‘How do you get ahead around here?’”

Leaders cannot afford to let an organisation’s culture just evolve. Just as Lou Gerstner shaped IBM’s culture based upon an end goal and leaders who intend on shaping their organisation’s culture need an end goal. What should your organisation’s couture look like to be effective? The key to effectively shaping your team’s or your organisation’s culture begins with purpose. Wikipedia defines purpose as “Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action.” Leaders wanting to shape an organisations culture need purposefully act, aligning all the above six leadership practices towards the organisation’s end goal and purpose.

Are you purposely acting to shape your organisation’s culture?
What are you paying attention to?
How do you react to critical moments?
What are you teaching?
What do yo allocating resources to?
What do you reward?
Who are you recruiting and promoting?

Culture Drives Success

George Ambler — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:01:26 +0000

Fast Company Now has a short but intersting article on the importance of culture in driving organisational success.

“I came to see in my time at IBM that ‘culture’ isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game.” – Lou Gerstner, Former IBM CEO, credited with its turnaround

The article suggests the following steps as a simple approach to identifying and changing a teams culture. Consider the team/group/organization you’re leading:

Look at your vision/mission statement and jot down the behaviors that everyone supposedly follows.
On a second list jot down the behaviors that everyone actually follows.
Pick the one discrepancy that annoys you the most.
Make it a top priority to change it.
Have a conversation with colleagues on why each of you think the discrepancy exists.
Agree on some structures to put in place to ensure that change happens (communication, processes, rewards etc).

Happiness, Success and Goal Setting