Kathy Gibson is at Gartner Symposium in Cape Town – Cutlure has been identified as one of the biggest barriers to achieving he promise of digital business.
“But culture does not need to be a barrier,” says Kristin Moyer, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner
She describes culture as a mindset and practices that determine company behaviour.
“Leaders are shaping mindsets,” she says.
The first thing they need to do, she adds, is get rid of the word failure.
Organisations are also changing their culture by letting go of the old.
Data shows that companies that get culture change moving see a reduction in implementation time and an increase in productivity
Being dynamic also helps them to beat their competitors,
“What won’t work is to call a meeting and tell people to change their culture,” Moyer says.
“We found the best path to progress is hacking.”
She says this involves finding weak points in the prevailing culture and making changes that stick.
Great hacks trigger emotional responses, they have immediate results, and they are easy and visible.
She offers some hacks that include reshaping leadership beliefs; shifting to empower accountability; and sharing success stories.
“Shape beliefs by taking ownership of your culture; shift decision-making so others can take action; share the culture journey by running a culture hackathon,” Moyer advises.
“Culture hacks are little things you can do to make a big difference.
“It is more than just a meeting or a project – because everything you think you know about projecs is about to change.”