Evolution with Intention

Organizational cultures evolve. They quite rarely transform or get reinvented, despite the best efforts of change management experts. But they do evolve, and they evolve constantly. They evolve whether you want them to or not.

But you absolutely can affect the evolution of culture. You can create the organizational culture you want, or at least you can come close (since it's not all up to YOU). The trick is being intentional about the evolution. That's the basic choice you have. You can try to evolve your culture with a very clear intention of what you want it to be and why, or you can let it evolve without intention. Most people choose the latter. They may have some kind of vision of the culture or even have cool inspirational posters on the wall, but intention is different. Intention brings with it some change in behavior on your part. That is where culture changes: in YOUR behavior.

Comments

[Lindy Dreyer]

Thank you. This is the point I was trying to make in my late response to the strategic planning smackdown. The sentiment is even more powerful as a stand alone idea.

My new mantra: Organizations evolve when the people within the organization act differently.

[Jamie Notter]

...differently and intentionally.