Strategy Execution and Culture Change

By Tracy Thurkow, Ph.D., Ned Morse, MBP, and Jim Hillgren, Ph.D.

Now, more than ever, leaders are concerned with getting results. Speed, focus and execution are paths to achieving a competitive advantage. Leaders are recognizing the fact that their corporate culture is preventing them from achieving results at the rapid pace necessary in today’s business environment, and then sustaining that growth.

Transforming an organization’s culture is a choice leaders make when they know they need to fundamentally change how their company achieves results. It’s an active process – one that is both led and managed. Its aim is to achieve competitive advantage by enabling the organization to better execute its strategy.

So, what exactly is organizational culture, anyway? It is defined as a pattern of behaviors that is reinforced or punished by people and systems over time. Leaders concerned with getting results are troubled by their organization’s culture. They seek to ensure that their organization is capable of achieving its goals, and this capability is a function of its culture. The culture determines how quickly decisions get made, how easily problems get solved, how resilient people are when faced with adversity, how speedily customer needs are acted upon.

Take a moment to think about the culture of your organization. How would you describe it? Is it one of risk-taking or one of caution? Innovation or resting on laurels? Collaboration or competition? Humility or arrogance? “Just get it done” or analytical? Regardless of how you answered, think about why you answered the way you did. Your reasons were probably related to what people say and do (behavior) across a variety of situations. CLG shows you how to use models based on Applied Behavioral Science that help you better understand the infrastructure of your organization’s culture.

Strategy execution and changing organizational culture is not easy, but with good leadership, solid management, and a keen understanding about how to initiate and sustain behavior change, it is achievable.

Read the full white paper for details on how CLG addresses this challenge by logging in or registering here.