Although the top-down management style is the method that people are familiar with, many companies today have also embraced a bottom-up approach where employees at any level can generate ideas. Nowadays, there is an impending need to switch to a top-down, bottom-up organizational style to make good strategies happen. However, this management style requires the ability of an individual to think, so shifting employee behavior to be more innovative is essential.
FROM CULTURE TO EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a famous quote from the legendary management consultant Prof. Peter Drucker. This happens when people in a bottom-up organization lack the capability to think. No matter how well-designed the strategic plan is, it will only be effective when the team shares the appropriate culture. A powerful and empowering culture is a surer route to organizational success. Therefore, there is a need for a culture that motivates people to implement the plan.
FROM ATTITUDE TO CULTURE
Shared beliefs and repeated behavior reflect culture. To make a new culture, the first step is to change to desired values, such as the beliefs about what is worthwhile or essential for the group. When there is a change in attitude, the workforce will shift its behaviors to do more about what it considers crucial. This will impact the people around that workforce, thus creating repeated behavior that influences others and leads to new norms of an organization. These norms will play a role in settling expectations about appropriate or inappropriate attitudes and behaviors and be the standards that help evaluate behavior.
A CASE STUDY FROM MICROSOFT
Microsoft’s culture has undergone necessary renovations. The key was embracing a willingness to change and instilling new habits that all employees could remember and adopt. The tech giant began believing that skills are improvable, a “learn-it-alls,” not know-it-alls mindset that encourages people to think and focus on improving themselves. “Create clarity, generate energy, deliver success ” was also set as a desired behavior. People ask themselves, “did we create clarity in that meeting?” and “how are we delivering success?.” These principles exploded like wildfire throughout Microsoft as it blended the new behavior with current activities, making it become an unconscious behavior more quickly and eventually altering the culture.
To enhance the bottom-up culture in a company, making a culture shift to be more innovative is the way to contribute to long-term business success. While culture shifts demand time and effort, sticking to the principle of “ Frequent, Intense, Normal” will help lead to a new culture. Altering culture should begin with shared values and behavior that will promote new “Culture” to escalate the change of an individual and the possibility of the company’s success.
Priding ourselves on sharing GREAT insights to society, we will continue to publish FREE content for ALL readers to uplift their knowledge and go from Good to GREAT!