Building a Values-Driven Organization

Richard Barrett

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781136425165
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Negocios en general

Richard Barrett, author of the best-selling book Liberating the Corporate Soul, presents his new thinking
Based on his experience working with over 1, 000 organizations in 32 countries on cultural transformation for the values-driven organization. He presents a whole system approach to cultural transformation, showing organizations how they can change their culture to become values-driven organizations that support their employees, their customers, their partners, their leaders, and ultimately drive effectiveness and profit.

1

Introduction

Background

My purpose in writing this book is to develop and build on the ideas contained in Liberating the Corporate Soul: Building a Visionary Organization¹ published in 1998. The basic premise of Liberating the Corporate Soul was that the most successful organizations on the planet are vision-guided and values-driven. The results of mapping the values of more than 500 companies in 35 countries since 1997 support this premise—values-driven companies are without a doubt, the most successful companies on the planet. Many other researchers also support this conclusion.^2–4 Therefore, I will not spend much time on making this case. Rather, I prefer to take this opportunity to draw on our own⁵ experiences and the vast amount of data we have collected over the past 8 years to describe the key characteristics of values-driven organizations; explain how to build valuesdriven organizations; and show how the process of values management can be used to support continuous improvements in organizational performance and develop long-term sustainability. In addition, I will detail the improvements we have made to the cultural transformation tools since the publication of Liberating the Corporate Soul.

There are many new ideas in this book that have not previously been published and cannot be found in mainstream management or organizational development literature. Examples include, the concepts of cultural resilience⁶ and cultural entropy,⁷ the five modes of decision making, and the integration of mature and emergent technologies into a comprehensive methodologic framework for whole-system change.

In my opinion, the two most important topics explored in this book are as follows:

(1) A whole-system or “integral” approach to cultural transformation; and

(2) Values management—measuring, monitoring, and responding to causal indicators of performance (values and behaviors) to adjust the culture of an organization so that it is able to sustain high performance and mission assurance.⁸

The concept of whole-system change described in this book is based on the work of Ken Wilber.⁹ I can best explain what is meant by wholesystem change by referring to Figure 1–1, a modified version of Ken Wilber’s Four Quadrant Model.

Figure 1–1 The four quadrants of human systems

The quadrants represent the four different perspectives one can have on human systems:

■ The perspective from the internal of the individual—individual consciousness—personal values and beliefs.

■ The perspective from the external of the individual—personal actions and behaviors.

■ The perspective from the internal of a collective—group consciousness—cultural values and beliefs.

■ The perspective from the external of a collective—group social structures, systems, processes, actions, and behaviors.

To make this model more directly applicable to groups, organizations, and institutions, I have simplified Wilber’s four-quadrant model by using personal values and beliefs as a proxy for the internal consciousness of an individual and personal actions and behaviors as a proxy for what is externally observable about an individual. Similarly, I have used group values and beliefs as a proxy for the collective consciousness of the group (culture), and group actions and behaviors as a proxy for what is externally observable about a group (social structures and behaviors).

As individuals change their values and beliefs, their actions and behaviors change. When a critical mass of individuals changes their values and beliefs in the same direction, their collective actions and behaviors also change. For this to happen, there must be a parallel shift in all four quadrants.

Engineering parallel shifts in the four quadrants within a group structure such as an organization or any human system is called “whole-system change.” Whole-system change begins with a shift in the personal consciousness of individuals and ends with a shift in the group’s actions and behaviors. Organizations don’t transform. People do! This means that if we can define a map of the territory we call consciousness; we can make the evolution of consciousness, conscious. We can intentionally engineer a shift from one level of consciousness to the next by managing the values of an organization. This is a major new idea pregnant with possibilities for improving the way we grow and develop our organizations. The purpose of values management is therefore to actively measure and monitor the values and behaviors of an organization so that we can continually adjust the culture to sustain high performance.

Whole-System Change

The idea for developing a whole-system approach to cultural transformation began to occupy my mind early in 2003. I had recognized for some time that there were several different models and tools in the market place for supporting cultural transformation, all of which were successful in their own way. It seemed to me that what was required was an overarching framework that would allow these models and tools to be combined in a more meaningful and beneficial approach.

My thought at that time was “How much more successful would these approaches be if they could be integrated into a broader more comprehensive methodology that encompassed whole-system change?” My business partner, Joan Shafer, and I had already integrated the technology known as appreciative inquiry¹⁰ into our framework for implementing cultural transformation, but I knew there was more that could be done.

It was at this point in time that I had a life-changing meeting with John Smith, chief executive officer (CEO) of HearthStone Homes—an Omaha-based home construction company. I had advised John and his company on matters of organizational culture for several years. It was at the end of a transformation weekend program that I was putting on for John and his business partner that John asked me about my future plans. I immediately told him about my idea for developing a wholesystem approach to cultural transformation that integrated different technologies.

Without hesitating, he said he would support me in this venture by funding a series of meetings that brought together thought leaders and key organizational practitioners from around the world to discuss the development of a whole-system approach to cultural transformation. The series of meetings known as the “Whole-system Change Summits” began in the fall of 2003. Many of the insights contained in this book are based on reflections and recommendations emanating from these meetings.

The collective experiences of this group suggest that there are three basic requisites for successful whole-system change. First, the leaders of the group have to drive the process of change. They need to be committed to, and become exemplars of the vision, mission, values, and behaviors—they must “walk the talk.” The change must begin with the personal transformation of the leadership group.

Second, the vision, mission and values as well as the supporting behaviors should influence all decision-making. The values and behaviors should be reflected in every aspect of the group’s structures, systems and processes. For example, in organizations, the values and behaviors should be reflected in the way employees, managers, and executives are selected, in the content of new-employee orientation programs, in the scope of management and executive development programs, in the way talented individuals are selected and nurtured, in promotion criteria, in leadership development programs, and in performance management, and so forth. Every aspect of “the way things are done around here” need to be in alignment with the vision, mission, values, and behaviors.

Third, for sustainable high performance, the culture must be comprehensively monitored through the measurement of individual and collective “causal” performance indicators (values and behaviors). One of the main reasons why companies do not reach their full potential or fail is because they do not monitor their cultures. There is no early-warning dashboard to indicate a rise in cultural entropy or a decrease in cultural resilience.

In conclusion, for whole-system change to be successful, the values of the organization should be pervasive. They should drive all aspects of decision-making and be reflected in every system and process. They should underpin and be reflected in the individual behaviors of the leaders, managers and staff and the collective behaviors of the organization. They should become part of the organization’s cultural DNA.

Implementing Whole-System Change

It is impossible to define a single whole-system approach to cultural transformation because the implementation methodology differs according to the levels of consciousness, worldviews, and motivational drivers of the leaders, the managers, and the employee population. That is why I refer to the process of whole-system change as a framework. The framework or key stages in the process of whole-system change are relatively well established and fixed; the technologies within the framework are changeable and fluid depending on the levels of consciousness, worldviews, and motivational drivers of the leaders, managers, and staff.

Furthermore, the culture change technologies that are appropriate for corporations may be different from those that are appropriate for government agencies or nongovernmental organizations. The methodology and techniques used in a whole-system change process need to reflect what is acceptable and appropriate for the levels of consciousness, world-views, and motivational drivers of the people involved.

For example, we often find in corporations that the leaders, because of their worldviews and motivational drivers, are unwilling to involve everyone in the organization in defining the vision, mission, and values of the organization. The main reason for this reluctance is that they operate from levels of consciousness that require them to stay firmly in control. They feel responsible and accountable to the shareholders for the success of the organization. They are not at ease with uncertainty and find it difficult to trust others. I am not saying that this need to stay firmly in control is right or wrong; it is simply a factor that must be taken into account by those who are designing and guiding the process of change.

In such situations, approaches and techniques such as appreciative inquiry¹¹ and open space,¹² which are designed to give everyone a voice in developing the vision and mission of an organization, may not be appropriate. Other methodologies, such as the four-whys process, described in Liberating the Corporate Soul, may be more acceptable. What we have learned over the past few years is that the choice of cultural transformation techniques is significantly dependent on the consciousness of the leadership group and executive population.

For the “hard-nosed” businessperson, “soft” approaches that explore the inner world of emotions and the role of ego and the soul in decision-making are off the radar screen. They simply cannot be accommodated in the belief structures that they hold. It is vital therefore, that every element of the whole-system change process be tailored to the level of consciousness and belief structures of the executive and employee...