As we work toward designing results-conducive cultures, consider two laws of the mind:

(1) The mind does not solve general problems;

(2) The mind does not achieve vague or general goals.

When it comes to behavior, specificity rules. Teams who define their standards and mutual expectations in specific terms set themselves apart, enabling themselves to convert good intentions into great performance.

Take, as example, the Ritz-Carlton Credo—a culture-defining document by one of the icons of world-class service in the hospitality industry. Part of the Credo states:

We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience.

Nothing terribly revolutionary or new there. Hundreds of organizations have similar verbiage in their mission and values statements. The difference comes from Ritz-Carlton’s unwillingness to leave the matter in such broad sweeping terms. Notice what follows:

THREE STEPS OF SERVICE

1) A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest name, if and when possible.

2) Anticipation and compliance with guest needs.

3) Fond farewell. Give them a warm good-bye and use their names, if and when possible.

As specificity grows the ability to see what “the finest personal service” looks like increases, as does each person’s ability to personify that service.

Are we there yet? Not quite. An even clearer picture grows by defining more specifics in what Ritz-Carlton calls its “Basics,” some of which are:

· Any employee who receives a customer complaint “owns” the complaint.

· Instant guest pacification will be ensured by all. React quickly to correct the problem immediately. Follow-up with a telephone call within twenty minutes to verify the problem has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Do everything possible to never lose a guest.

· “Smile – We are on stage.” Always maintain positive eye contact. Use the proper vocabulary with our guests, words like, “Good Morning,” “Certainly,” “I’ll be glad to,” and “My pleasure”.

· Escort guests rather than pointing out directions to another area of the Hotel.

As is the case with so many successful outcomes, the difference is made in attention to detail.

What specifics have you implemented to strengthen your team’s culture?

Your thoughts about these thoughts….

My observation to him was that most organizations have fallen into a pitfall similar to Will Rogers’ famous quip, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”

Although most organizations talk about their cultures, few take definitive steps to create their culture in the practical everyday detail that establishes and maintains the healthy, supportive environment everyone claims to want. In the absence of purposeful and sustainable methods, cultures simply become the end product of the course of least resistance.

Put directly, there may be “50 ways to leave your lover” (thank you again Neil Simon) but there are only two ways to get a culture—by design or by default.

Either way you get a culture. That’s inevitable.

The Truth About Groups: Put a group of people together, few or many, for almost any length of time and that group forms a culture—a way of relating to each other and to the outside world. For better or worse, people in the group develop patterns that turn into habits—unspoken understandings of “the rules” of what is acceptable with this group and what isn’t. Over time, those patterns of thinking and behaving become the ingrained norm. Regardless of the slogans or mission statements on the walls, people come to know and live by the unwritten laws of what the group is “really about.” And, in the final analysis, the culture becomes the 500-pound gorilla. It does pretty much what it wants.

When the culture is respectful, resilient and energetic it becomes leadership’s strongest ally. When the culture is suspicious, hyper-critical and recalcitrant it is leadership’s greatest foe.

Teams who take a passive approach to culture find change difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Why? Because human nature being what it is, the course of least resistance leads to a culture of non-responsibility, blame, undermining, cynicism, and inertia—and the wasted time, energy, and opportunity that goes with it. The very people who could make change work are the ones who are making sure that it doesn’t.

Teams who seize the initiative to create their cultures by design, cure a multitude of ills that would ordinarily siphon life and vitality.

So that leads me to the discussion point I want to pose to you. What are some of the specific steps your team or organization has taken to create or re-invent a culture?

Your thoughts about these thoughts…

During my remarks I talked about the imperative of placing responsibility for accountability where it rightfully belongs—on the individual employee rather than upon supervisors and managers (see blog of Sep 15). In the Q&A session, one sharp executive posed an excellent discussion point. Essentially, he observed: “As a leader, I have tried to get my people to take more responsibility and be more accountable, but they never seem to step up. The only thing that seems to work is the old “hold their feet to the fire” approach, that involves some form of coercion. I would be over-joyed to have my people hold themselves accountable, but I do not see how that would ever happen. Any suggestions?”

Before I jump into an extensive “all-seeing, all-knowing, Carnac the Magnificent” commentary (part of which I offered to the AMS in response to this leader’s question), I would like to receive some of your comments on this discussion point.

To “prime the pump,” let me say that I believe that part of our dilemma is our fundamental mindset or mental posture when it comes to supervision and management. We do not look at leaders, managers, and supervisors as teachers and educators, we view them as task masters and drill sergeants (all due respect to those of you in military).

Your thoughts about my thoughts…

Dr. Michael Hammer, in The Process Audit, states:

“…enterprises also have to reshape organizational cultures to emphasize teamwork, personal accountability, and the customer’s importance; redefine roles and respons-ibilities so that managers oversee processes instead of activities and develop people rather than supervise them.”

Dr. Hammer is right on. It is imperative that we develop people rather than supervise them. This powerful and largely overlooked principle is a corollary to Dr. Edwards Deming’s famous observation that companies needed to stop trying to inspect quality into their products. It is high time that we reallocate managers’ time, having them oversee and improve processes rather than trying to inspect ownership and accountability into their people.

The good news is, although minds don’t behave with uniform conformity like electrons, minds are nonetheless educable. Ownership can be learned and it can be taught. And, there are sound educational processes out there that accomplish that.

Well designed and skillfully delivered ownership and accountability training is tantamount to the mental equivalent of human growth hormone (but without the deleterious side effects). Human growth potential is a real but mostly untapped corporate resource. People up and down the organization can function “like athletes on steroids,” when they have the knowledge and skills of ownership coupled with a clear what’s-in-it-for-me motive.

People come to embrace ownership and choose to hold themselves personally accountable when they see the overwhelming personal advantages that stem from doing so. Almost by DNA we are ease-seeking, pain-avoiding entities. When any of us come to see how much easier we can make our lives by cutting out the whining and excuse-making—and how much more fulfilling it is to solve problems and execute priorities—amazing things happen.

For far too long, we have burdened leaders on all levels with the onus of “holding their people accountable.” That is almost an oxymoron. The fact is, you cannot hold me accountable, only I can do that. You can threaten me and put pressure on me to try to force me to do the accountable thing. But, in the end, it always comes down to my choice. Accountability is an individual responsibility. No amount of skill on your part will succeed in “holding me accountable,” if I flatly refuse to respond to your tactics. This very fact lies at the heart of the common passive-aggressive behavior of many people lodged in our corporate structures.

The day I wake up to the fact that all my blaming and lame excuses are paltry pay-offs for genuine results and real growth is the day that I get serious about detecting and rejecting my own Victim-thinking and embrace Ownership. And, that is the same day that I no longer need you or any other outside force to “hold me accountable.”

For further insights on personal accountability and developing Ownership within your organization, click here.

Your thoughts about my thoughts…