Today, I was talking to a CEO buddy. Apparently, the evangelism that surrounds him is rubbing off. 
Fairly new in his position, he is absolutely dedicated to changing his company’s culture.
Next year. The new year. 2014. In other words: not now.
So, as I am prone to do, I pushed back: “Why wait until the New Year?”
His response was typical: “We’re all just riding out the year. When we come back from the holidays, we’ll be ready for real change.”
“Oh” I said, “Like a New Year’s Resolution?”
“Yes!” he said, happy I’d gotten the message and finished the analogy. Only I didn’t understand the message. And the analogy didn’t sit well with me at all. I told the youngish CEO what I thought of his plan, gently and constructively:
“That is the dumbest strategy I have ever heard.”
He was too busy picking his jaw off the floor to punch me in mine, so I continued…
I went on to say that the time is now. Not just because of all that “If not now, when?” stuff (which I believe in quite strongly), but because with the holidays coming up, there is no better time to talk about collaboration, cooperation and reintroducing, to his team, the human side of business.
There is no better time to talk about collaboration, cooperation and reintroducing…the human side of business.
“When are your team members ever going to embrace human-driven change better than a time when we take stock of what we’re truly thankful for? At what time will they welcome a new emphasis on ethics more than when we are contagiously expressing good will toward all others?”
There was a pause – and then an explanation. Eventually, it came back to the “fresh start” that comes with January 1st. So I asked:
“Your last 10 New Year’s resolutions… how did those work out for you?” I assumed his answer would have been the same as everyone else’s to that question, so he chose not to answer.
We talked at length (well, about the time it takes for ice to melt in an adult beverage) about why he wanted to equate his top-down approach to culture with a superstition that fails about 90% of the time. Why would he want to lump such an important shift in how work was done with yet another failure to quit smoking, lose weight and the unicorn-class myth known as work-life balance?
Those efforts fail… for a reason. They fail because they are attached to an arbitrary, nonsensical anchor. They aren’t efforts to change because we want to change. They are efforts to change based on guilt, self-expectation and failed tradition. Those efforts, while they might temporarily motivate us to act differently for a few weeks, do not inspire us to be different long-term.
After careful consideration, my friend, in the most endearing way possible, finally responded:
“I hate you.”
He knew that waiting until January 1, 2014 to “launch” his new culture was a stall. He understood that, done correctly, changing company culture requires a long-term commitment; a flatter, more-nimble management style, and; perhaps some carefully orchestrated attrition. Not everyone was going to embrace the new, creative culture. Tough decisions were going to be deliberated and made. By waiting until the calendar said ‘1’… he was simply putting off the inevitable.
Changing company culture requires a long-term commitment
From our conversations with so many CEO, Directors, board members, clients and friends of Switch and Shift – we know this situation isn’t unique. We know there are many companies (and departments, small teams, and projects) that desperately need a culture overhaul. And we know there are many decision-makers more than willing to put off the hard work – any form of change – until the New Year.
I challenge you to take a different approach. I challenge you to start now – right now – to lead by example and make just a little difference, a little at a time.
You don’t need an “initiative”, a “program” or permission from a calendar.
You need action. Now.
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