In my last blog I talked about how in these turbulent times, businesses of all shapes and sizes, even non-profits, are finding that their old ways of doing things are just that  — old. They need to change their culture, but they don't know what their current culture is, or how to go about changing it.

I then described how from our earliest childhood, our mind forms a story (which others help us craft) and it doesn't like to deviate from that story, which makes change difficult. I also talked about the workshop I conducted for Eric Buehler's November 2022 Enterprise Agility Global Conference on how to adapt an organization's culture during fast-changing times. You can view the slideshow of my workshop here.

In this blog, I'd like to delve into how change is literally pain but it can be done, and often, must be done.

How can you change your culture if you don't know what your current one is?

Far too often, an HR professional is asked by his/her CEO to help transform their organization's culture. One recent call to us was so typical, and frustrating to the individual who was calling. Without ever having evaluated her company's culture, she could not tell me what culture the company had today or what the CEO wanted for the future.

Last week I wrote a blog entitled Nothing Proves The Importance Of Culture Than When Two Of Them Collide. It was all about my experiences in making a big acquisition and then realizing that words have different meanings to different people, especially when applied to a company’s culture.

In this blog I am going to describe another “culture” experience. This also covers corporate cultures and why success in one organization is not what brings success in another.

The gap between what we say and what we do

We know that what we say and what we mean are often far apart. The gap is something that comes from our brains moving far faster thinking than our voices can communicate those thoughts. You might want to take a look at Byron Reese’s new book, Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future—and Shape It. My wife recently interviewed Byron on her podcast, On the Brink with Andi Simon.

For the past two years or so, we all have been operating in a strange work environment. Many of us have experienced trying to work full-time virtual, part-time in the office, and even full-time in the office. For each of us, it has been good, bad, or none of the above, as post-pandemic work styles range from virtual to in-person to hybrid to pick your own style, causing business leaders to hide or run for cover...or in some cases, listen carefully for new solutions.

                                                                                                 Photo courtesy www.business-anthro.com

What the heck is corporate anthropology?

People often ask us: "What do you do?" and "How do you do anthropology?" They are familiar  (maybe) with anthropologists who work in small-scale societies in far away lands. My response: I tell them that companies or organizations in more complex societies are like those small-scale societies. We observe their interconnected networks, and the way people get their jobs done every day. They have many of the same dynamics as tribal or hunter-gatherer societies. They also have different ones which reflect how they have evolved into effective, or dysfunctional, organizations. Our job as corporate anthropologists is to help them "see, feel and think" in new ways to sustain their growth during these fast-changing times.

 
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." John F. Kennedy

This time of year is when we at SAMC reflect on the past and prepare for the future. It is also a time to express our appreciation and gratitude for successes, as well as what we have tried and may not have achieved. 

Reflecting on gratitude and expressing it is as essential to people's personal lives as it is to their businesses and careers. In fact, those who focus on expressing their gratitude tell us that it repays them in spades. So why don't we all do it?

Gratitude: what does that really mean? 

While the terms gratitude and appreciation may seem interchangeable, there are actually some subtle differences. While appreciation is a way of recognizing a job well done, gratitude is more personal. It expresses thanks for a benefit one has received.  

As we work with companies and not-for-profits, we often find that people seem to have a hard time saying a simple "thank you" to someone. We're not talking about an award or special recognition for completing a task, just a simple "Hey, thanks for doing that so well. I truly appreciate it." 

It's rare to hear business leaders say how grateful they are for their team, their clients or their successful company. Why is this?

There's one exception: a long-term client of ours whom we just adore, in large part because they are always expressing their gratitude to us (their consultants), their staff and their clients. As we receive their thanks and hear the same from their staff, we believe that their success is mainly due to this feeling of and consistent expression of gratitude. 

Today's blog is about this gift of gratitude: what is it, why you and your company should embrace it, and how it will make you and those around you smile and shine. Most of all, it is about how to build an organizational culture that goes beyond the functional things that have to be done and creates an entirely new perspective on the people getting it done. Along the way, it also shines a light on how company culture really matters. 

Why should we worry about appreciating others and expressing our gratefulness or gratitude?

As you may know, our mission at Simon Associates Management Consultants is to help organizations change. Whether it's a large high-performing organization or a mid-size owner/operator, helping businesses change is our focus and our specialty. It's exciting work!

But, change is something that people hate. The brain hates it. The culture hates it. We see this all the time with our clients. Most organizations have a hard time implementing new ideas and new ways of doing things, even if they are good ideas and better, more productive ways of doing things.

So, what to do? How can you successfully change your organization? As corporate anthropologists, we have found that what works over and over again is "a little anthropology." Watch this webinar and you'll learn why and how you can do it too.

Applying the humanities to business isn’t anything new. In fact, the corporate world has a long tradition of embracing various studies of human society and culture to explain and benefit its many strategies. And when it comes to anthropology — the study of human and social behavior — the story isn't much different.

But as the pressure mounts for college students to take STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), the humanities and social science programs are struggling to sustain their relevance. Nevertheless, there are still humanities majors who dominate the business world, and 75% of today's entrepreneurs were liberal arts majors, in part because there were no programs teaching entrepreneurship when they were in college.

Fortunately for those with anthropology degrees, there has been an increase in recent years in the application of anthropology to the world of business. This has given birth to the term "corporate anthropology" — the study of human values, beliefs and behaviors in the business environment. Now, anthropology is thriving in business, driving change and innovation in a number of different areas.

Here is a brief overview of how corporate anthropology is changing its role in the business arena, how business is changing anthropologists, and why should you try it for your own company.

What if each of your employees felt really appreciated, an integral part of the team? And what if these positive feelings then translated into better performance, higher output, more idea generation and greater company profit? Wouldn't that be great!

We all want that, right? But these things don't just happen on their own—they're nurtured by a positive company culture, one that values and champions every staff member, no matter their position. Many companies already have this kind of culture in place. Do you? If not, do you know how to get it?

For a little guidance, a recent article in Inc.com offers four strategies, all focusing on storytelling, and one of them even comes from me. (You can read the full article here.)

Storytelling is a great way to change your company culture