A New Year's lesson from jail.

I really didn't intend to write anything about resolutions for the coming new year, but I had an experience the other day that I want to share that just happens to relate. I dropped by a friend's house on Christmas Eve, and in the course of conversation he described an important principle that's valuable anytime, but especially timely as we look forward to a new year.

My friend does volunteer work at the county jail every Sunday, an experience he loves. Each week he prepares what is essentially a brief Sunday School lesson for inmates who request it. In the minimum security wing the inmates are allowed to assemble in a small room where he presents the lesson and leads group discussions. Prisoners in the maximum security wing are not permitted to gather outside their cells. So he walks down the lonely corridors and knocks on each cell door and asks "church?" through the small sliding opening where conversation can be held. If the inmate says yes, the lesson and discussion is held through the opening in the door. As you might imagine, he has a lot of interesting stories from these experiences. My friend related to me that one conversation gets repeated a lot, and there is a great lesson for both the inmates and all of us. The lesson is about change.

All the inmates, my friend says, want to change. They tell him every week. "When I get out, I'm going to be a better man." No more drugs, stealing, whatever it was that got them in trouble, it's all going to change. OK so far, yet the recidivism rate is over 70%, so there's not much evidence of change going on. So my friend, a compassionate but no-nonsense type, has begun to challenge them, and he could be speaking to all of us when he does. When he hears an inmate promise to change, he immediately asks "what's your plan?" The usual response is "I'm going to stop (doing whatever brought them to jail)." Again the question, "what's your plan?" "How are you planning to stop? What are you going to do differently? What might get in the way?" And so on. Forced to think it through, the inmates agree that they have to be more specific. With a little coaching from my friend, they add "I'll stay away from my former friends and hangouts," and other ideas. In other words, they develop a plan. Changing requires planning. Without a plan, it's just a wish.

Who among us hasn't had the same original idea of the inmates, that we'll change just by saying we will? And then whatever it is, losing weight, a new job, better relationship, a few steps are taken and we fall back into old patterns and habits. No plan, no progress, no success. Whether it's now as we make the usual New Year's resolutions, or next month or six months from now, it's all the same: decide what it is we want to change, our motivation for doing so, the rewards for succeeding, the steps we plan to follow and the method of accountability to get us there. The people I've coached (and one actually was an inmate...another story there) all want to change. They've tried before and it didn't work, and to a person the basic steps of planning were neglected. I have a number of things I want to work on in the coming year, both personally and professionally, and I'm planning the steps right now. Are you?

Watch your language!

One of the great things about being a consultant and having several sales training certifications is that as a consumer, I can spot certain sales techniques a mile away. And if I'm in the mood, I'll call the sales person on what he or she is doing, even naming the specific closing technique and telling them what to do if that one fails (and it will). So much of selling sounds contrived, even attempts at so-called consultative selling, and I wonder if the perpetrators ever think about what they sound like on the receiving end. I mention this because of a sales call I received about a week ago.

I was driving home from an appointment when my cell phone went off. I don't usually take calls when driving and almost never from a number I don't recognize. That day I did. A young man's voice asked if I was Bob Ligget with Corporate Pulse Consulting, I responded yes, and without identifying himself he began to ask me about my day, the time of year and my general health. I finally said that by now I knew the purpose of the call and asked this young man if he would please tell me who he was and who he worked for. Turns out I had dropped a business card in a fishbowl at a business expo I attended here in Salt Lake City a while back, knowing full well about this standard marketing ploy and now I was reaping the consequences.

The voice informed me he was with V Chocolates, a small local boutique chocolate company, but what really got me was his next statement: "We'd like you to consider purchasing our products as you consider your business gifting needs this Christmas season." I stopped him right there. After telling him I buy from V Chocolates every year, I said I may stop this year if he didn't cease and desist from using the word "gifting." He seemed more than a little shocked and tried to tell me what the word meant, in case I didn't grasp the concept. I asked if "gifting" was really on his script and proceeded to tell this now-confused young man that if he expected to be successful in sales he shouldn't use stupid make-believe words that sound "businesslike" to people who don't really understand business. We had a great conversation after that. He had just started phone selling three days before, and rather than get upset and hang up, this young man asked me why I didn't like the word "gifting," what I did in my business and would I give him some advice. Impressive, and he'll go far with an attitude like that.

My advice to him is the same I give to any sales person, heck, to any business person: stop abusing the language with goofy jargon and phrases that sound impressive only to those who use them and ridiculous to those who have to listen. It's verbal abuse and benefits no one. I suggested to my caller that he rewrite his script to ask his prospects if they would consider purchasing V Chocolates as gifts for clients and customers. Isn't that how normal people talk? He did agree, and even thanked me for the advice. No charge, I said, and I would now probably buy some again this year. And I have. I think their chocolates are the best around and I admire the business itself.

One further note: if I was his boss, I would have had him write a note and maybe include a coupon or a small sample as a follow-up (he had my card with all my contact information). That's sales plus customer service, costs next to nothing and builds huge amounts of good will as well as ensuring further sales. And that's what the company really wants, isn't it? Small things can pay enormous dividends.

You gotta believe!

I think the power of belief is under-appreciated in business. When I say that belief determines behavior, or at least strongly influences it, many people agree with me in areas outside business, especially in areas like moral and religious reasoning. But not at work. Why? Do people suddenly change when they walk through the doors of companies across the country each day? In some ways they might, as in how they present themselves to colleagues as opposed to their friends outside work. That's external, and I'm talking about the internal, the feelings people have about the company they work for, the work they do and what it means to them. A person who believes in his/her company and its leadership will be far more effective and productive than one who does not. This has huge implications in a number of ways, one of which is change management.

Every company I've ever consulted with, worked for or talked with wants to implement change somewhere. Sometimes they confuse change and improvement, but that's another topic. Everyone agrees that most change initiatives fail in full implementation, and there is no shortage of books and articles on why. There are lots of good reasons but I want to address only one, that of belief. Stuart Chase wrote: "For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." Belief is something you feel deeply, so much so that appeals to logic and reason alone will not sway you. Yes, beliefs are tied closely with feelings, and that should not surprise anyone nor cause them concern. Beliefs are felt and acted upon, not just in living rooms but in cubicles and board rooms.

I was watching a video clip of John Kotter today, who as you should know, is a leading authority on organizational change. He said something very interesting that ties into this discussion. Kotter said his reasearch found that helping people change had less to do with showing them analysis to change their thinking to change their behavior than showing something of truth that hits their feelings that changes their behavior. It surprised him and he said that this sure wasn't what they taught him in his MBA program! What this means to me is that belief and feelings are intertwined, and if you can change those, behavior will follow.

In my own work I've found this to be true. I've even seen it proven in IT, whose inhabitants are usually considered reflexively analytical and logical, and disdainful of feelings and beliefs. Not so when it comes to organizational change. Don't be afraid of dealing with belief and feelings. When you do, people respond and behavior change has a better chance of succeeding. Do this regularly and you'll develop a culture where people will do whatever it takes to make the business succeed, simply because they believe so strongly.

What culture is and why it matters.

I want to build a little on what I implied as the primacy of culture in diagnosing and repairing business problems. So let's first define what's meant by culture, although I should point out one thing: the study of culture is generally within the purview of anthropology, specifically and not surprisingly, cultural anthropology. Anthropologists have been arguing about the definition of culture for decades, and there are literally hundreds, possibly thousands of definitions, each reflecting the writer's research bias (and such were part of my academic studies for years). I'm not interested in academic purity anymore; I use a definition that is explanatory and useful for improving the business condition of my clients. Culture, then, consists of the norms, values, beliefs and behaviors both acquired and cultivated by persons as members of a group. It is a "shared code of meaning" (Clifford Geertz), and it is "whatever one needs to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members" (Ward Goodenough).

If we reflect on these definitions I think we can see that they are applicable to all manner of human groups, from a simple band society to complex civilizations and of course, to modern businesses of all sizes. In fact, if you re-read the Goodenough quote, haven't you heard that expressed in business as "the way we do things around here?" That phrase has become a kind of shorthand definition of corporate culture, and it's pretty accurate. But the point is that the way things are done around anywhere, i.e., the culture, will become the major influence on behavior. If I'm a new employee and I want to fit in, be accepted and climb the ladder, I will probably watch, listen and learn how things are done, who has the influence, what is acceptable behavior and language, where the power structures are and so forth. I'll follow those patterns, and assuming I have at least minimal competance I'll begin to succeed. In the meantime, I will likely internalize the spoken and especially unspoken company values. I will become one of the tribe in a process called acculturation, and I won't even know it has happened.

Talk to someone from a company listed as one of the best to work for; they're virtual brand ambassadors because of their belief in the company for whom they work, and that belief compels them to high standards of personal performance. It's that company's culture driving such belief and behavior. There is a pattern in those companies and it's worth emulating. If you're in management, take a look around. What do you see? What do you hear? Do employees believe in the company's vision? Are they performing at the levels you need? Is there a pattern of customer complaints? Are people engaged in their work? Do they show pride in what they do and do they show pride in your company, what it does and most importantly, what it stands for? These are all cultural indicators (there are more). Don't dare ignore them.

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is an outgrowth of my company, Corporate Pulse Consulting. Don't look for my web site right now as it's down for a major overhaul. Here I will be writing about issues surrounding improving corporate culture, change management and communication. I'll also write about other general business issues and I'll probably have some things to say about related concerns (I suspect that definition will be very flexible!). Let me explain the particular slant on my work:

As a solo management consultant, my background in cultural anthropology has led me to conclude that most organizational challenges can be traced to problems somewhere within the corporate culture. Here’s what I’ve found: Culture influences belief, which determines behavior, which determines results. Regardless of size, culture impacts performance in every organization. Unless you have alignment at all levels, from entry-level to board room, that performance will suffer. It cannot be all it can and should be. Are there other factors to consider? Sure, and an analysis of the culture will flush them out every time. After that, we can determine what to do next.

That's my starting point. I've helped clients with customer service problems, interpersonal communications, conflict resolution, merger and acquisition challenges and many of the "usual" business concerns. What I've found is that very often they are symptoms of a greater problem, and I can find that problem in the existing culture.

I look forward to sharing ideas and welcome comments and suggestions.