From the 1960’s to the 1980’s there was a public service announcement that ran on American television as a response to the rising crime rate that asked, “It’s 10 p.m. do you know where your children are?” This reminder every evening was an attempt to get parental help in enforcing new curfew laws that had been established to curb urban unrest. There was a culture shift that was taking place and the strategy to keep it from shifting was to try to control behavior. At best, this strategy leads to outward compliance while in the presence of authority.
Several years back, I heard story about a precocious toddler, I’ll call Sam. Sam was smack in the middle of the terrible two’s that had now bled into the terrible 3’s. He was standing on the seat of a car and his parents wanted him to sit down so they could buckle him in and drive. Sam, however, was having none of it. Sam’s parents started in with the usual threats till they landed on one that was sufficient enough to get him sit. At this point, his parents were feeling triumphant and started to buckle him into the seat. Sam, however, was not that easily bested and proudly proclaimed, “I may be sitting on the outside but I’m standing on the inside!”
Controlling outward behavior does nothing to change what is happening on the inside of an individual. What happens on the inside in our thinking is what drives the behavior we see on the outside. I had an experience just the other day with a technician that was installing a new WiFi system. This gentleman was great. He was on time and efficient. After he did his install, he walked through all of the rooms and tested the signal strength. After his test, he showed me that there were a couple of areas that could use a boost. I was ready to pay an additional fee to make sure I didn’t have any dead WiFi zones. However, the technician proceeded to tell me that he had a similar test result in his house so he tested the equipment to see if it made a difference and it did not. He, of course, would be happy to install the additional equipment but he didn’t want to try to sell me something that I might not really need. He gave me some science behind the reasoning and offered a better alternative if in fact I did experience some dead zones. I was so grateful for his honesty and was feeling really good about the company chosen to install the WiFi. But then, on his way out the door, the technician said, “Please tell my supervisor that I offered you the additional equipment. Management is really on our case right now about pushing this stuff. I just don’t feel good about it if the customer doesn’t really need it.” This is how culture eats strategy for breakfast, as Peter Drucker would say.
This company was communicating a strategy of needing to sell WiFi boosters to customers who had already purchased service, but they failed to change the thinking or values of the individual. This worked out great for me, but I can imagine the frustrated supervisor on the other side not understanding why the technician isn’t making quota.
Paul Manwaring, leader of Global Legacy says, “Culture starts in the mind. If you haven’t changed the way your people think they will sabotage your strategy.” This begs the question do you know how your people think? How do they solve problems? What do they think about your company initiatives?
It’s 10 a.m. do you know what your culture is doing?
