How to Communicate Transformation
I’m commonly asked about how best to communicate the notion of Cultural Transformation (Delivering Happiness at Work‘s Roadmap to Make Happy Work as described in Happiness!).
Transformation is about Advantage! Not merely Competitive, Brand, Marketing, Sales, Product, Service, or whatever else, but quintessentially Human Advantage (and Cultural Advantage). Transformation involves fundamental DNA or cultural change that occurs through creative destruction and renewal. Transformation coaching involves being an alchemist or catalyst in fostering the transformation journey.
The best ways to communicate the notion of Cultural Transformation is through a conversation with supporting visualization (that is, a drawing that emerges throughout the conversation) that emphasizes key concepts: Mindset, Behaviors, Value, Wholeness, and Community.
Here are the main parts of such a conversation (including, what I commonly say and what I commonly draw on a flip chart or whiteboard)… Would love to hear your thoughts!
Beginning
Transformation is a journey — with a beginning, middle, and end — which is naturally cyclic; that is, there are cycles of transformation.
The beginning of the journey involves defining your culture.
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Mindset
As “we are all prisoners of our paradigms” (Hamel), everything begins with our mindset. We define our mindset by asking: What are our values (or what gives us meaning)? What is our cause (or what is our purpose)?
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Behaviors
Our mindset is expressed through our behaviors, relationships, and language: What language will we use? How will we behave (and what are our processes)? How will we relate (and what is our structure)? Our mindset and its manifestation is our Culture (when we live the mindset through that manifestation).
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Socialize
Our mindset must be socialized with everyone.
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Middle
The middle of the journey involves living your culture.
Value
How does our mindset empower us to adapt to our external world and create value (for our constituencies)? That is, “external adaptation” (Schein). We must enact the behaviors; and we must experience and elaborate the mindset (or refine it to meet our needs as we adapt to our external world).
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Renew
How do we best organize (behave and relate) to create value? We ought to organize (or renew ourselves) as such!
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End
The end of the journey involves evolving your culture.
Wholeness
How does our mindset empower us to integrate in our internal world and be whole? That is, “internal integration” (Schein). We must enact the behaviors; and we must experience and evolve and embody the mindset (or refine it to meet our needs as we integrate in our internal world).
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Renew
How best do we organize (behave and relate) to be whole? We ought to organize (or renew ourselves) as such!
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Community
We, as a community, must own our mindset and its manifestation (as we live and evolve it).
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