Creating a “Can-Do” Culture in an Organisation
Mentor Speak
This series of short write ups provide pearls of wisdom from Global Leaders and Mentors who are associated with us. They bring in a practitioner’s perspective and serves as an effective combination of advice that has authenticity, experience and most importantly – relevance.
“Can-Do” is defined by the online Collins dictionary as a person who is “confident and willing to deal with problems or new tasks, rather than complaining or giving up”. It is also “characterised by enthusiasm and confidence in taking on tasks and challenges”.
A business organisation is not a person, but it IS a collection of individuals, a team held together by a vision, common goals, values and a culture. In this context, “Can-Do” means an organisation and a team that has the confidence and willingness to take on new challenges, problems and tasks with enthusiasm and confidence.
Easier said than done!
So how DO we create a Can-Do culture? It has to start and be continuously reinforced at the top from the leader and the leadership team. And then, if the environment has been set right, it needs to be embraced by team members and the broader organisation as something meaningful, exciting and worthwhile.
There are 5 things a leader needs to do:
Communicate the Vision for the Business to all and get the team “signed up” to it. A Vision creates a “destination” point sometime in the future. It should be aspirational and appeal to the sense of purpose and destiny that people wish for. A leader who continuously keeps the Vision in sight by talking about it, linking actions and plans to the achievement of the Vision and tying the Culture to the Vision is likely to generate a hugely positive response and support from the team.
Engage the Team in building and promoting the framework for the new culture and then own and nurture the culture on a continuous basis. Get the culture right and results follow. This implies open-ness by the leadership to interact with the team in developing the new culture and a high level of engagement by the team. Calling each other out if necessary when the culture is not adhered to helps frame behaviour as well – within reason!
Empower the Team to develop solutions, try new things and to pick themselves up and try again even if a solution fails. Start by defining an issue the business faces and ask for input and potential solutions – perhaps by creating an empowered cross functional team. This would help break down silos and reduce the risk of an idea being rejected. Showcase the effort publicly. Failures happen – if the solution fails, acknowledge it, help the team figure out why and encourage them to find a workable solution.
Recognise and Reward behaviours that demonstrate the willingness to find new solutions, use different approaches and to not give up even in adverse circumstances. This could be as simple as just saying – “great effort” or “well done” – or as formal as a company recognition award. Build this mindset into a new performance appraisal system. At the same time, it is important to take action openly and with clarity to change out team members who do not subscribe to the culture – after giving them a hearing to understand why. As difficult as this can be, it is necessary.
Share Results openly and clearly so that all team members can see how the organisation is performing and what needs to be done as a team to achieve the Vision. As Tony Hsieh of Zappo’s says – “chase the vision, not the money”. This can be done at a weekly Monday “Kick-Off” meeting or at a monthly review meeting. This is also a good forum for recognition of the team.
The single most important thing for a leader and the leadership team in all of this is to “stay the course” and demonstrate CONSISTENCY in living up to the new culture. There is nothing that defeats credibility more than a leader who keeps changing and fails to demonstrate that he/she subscribes to the culture of the company. Authenticity, integrity and transparency will go a very long way in establishing the culture. Fine-tune the culture as the organisation grows and evolves.
At the same time, there are 3 things a team member needs to do:
Be an engaged and interested Team Member. Take an active part in shaping the culture. Ask questions, propose new directions, understand and support the Vision. Sign up for task forces, projects and events. Help onboard new team members and show them how the culture operates.
Embrace the culture. Once set, be part of the new culture. Call out divergences, propose better solutions. It’s not a cult, so don’t blindly embrace the culture – learn to interpret it, adapt it, provide feedback to leaders and apply it wisely. This can be applied directly as you work on a project for example. Challenge yourself and others to seek multiple solutions to an issue or opportunity, choose the best course of action and do it! If you’re wrong, ask for input, understand why, make a course correction and pursue the end result again.
Live the culture at work every day. Do question but be positive. Don’t say “I can’t” or “Yes, but”. Instead say “I’ll do my best” and “Yes, but, and here’s how”. There is great power and satisfaction in working towards achieving something meaningful in a way that is right for you and the team. Don’t dwell on failures – learn from them and keep going.
Positive interaction between a team and its leader is essential in designing, developing and evolving a “Can-Do” culture. It does take a good level of maturity on both sides and a willingness to engage, discuss and accept feedback to make a culture like this succeed. Above all, if done with integrity, openness and a clear tie to the Vision, a “Can-Do” culture is a powerful way to drive success in an organisation.
