THE INVISIBLE --- What is Culture?

“Culture - the final frontiers.. to seek out new life, and new civilizations..” When I started out as a young consultant, “Culture” was the “C-word” in the world of business consulting. It ranged right after “Change” the other “C-word, and back in these dark ages, only very reckless - or funny - people got to use these words.

Today this is different. “Culture” is a genuine buzz word in the organizational space. But what is Culture, really? and Why do you need to know your company culture?

Up to 90% of the components of any culture are invisible

Culture can mean literature, heroes, monuments, cathedrals, movies, music and more. Yet, this visible evidence of culture only represents 10%. Up to 90% of the components of any culture are invisible, for example assumptions, values and beliefs. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall set up this foundational “Iceberg Model” in the 70ies (Beyond Culture, 1976), and it is proving more than valuable in today’s age of ever accelerating change. 

As Change Management practitioners, we know that the mindsets, coping mechanisms and reactions to the uncertainties of change are mostly located “under the water line” of the iceberg of organizational culture. Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner, in her book Launch Lead Live: The executive's guide to preventing resistance and succeeding with organizational change describes this as “the Whitespace”.

Simultaneously, - then - thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, I published several talks and articles on “Managing the Invisible”, and the parallel development of our insights, coming to the same conclusions from different backgrounds, has led me to working with Dr. Turner and her team today, a collaboration that will be productive and bring considerable value to the tables of our clients.

Culture eats strategy for breakfast (attributed to Peter Drucker)

Strategic decisions towards Innovation, Agile Transformation, implementing confident and competent positioning in today’s  complex markets - all of these require knowing the current-state of your organizational culture and establishing a future-state vision.

Out to build bridges - Storytelling time

I come from a long line of pioneers, builders of bridges between people, and so - privately and professionally, in intercultural communication and change management - this is what I love doing, and what I do best.

My Great-Grandmother built bridges half around the world with courage, my Grandfather survived Siberia building bridges with music and my Mother built bridges between people all her life with human kindness. Let’s start by telling the story of my Great-Grandmother, from whom I got a keepsake, a family heirloom, a coin that you have probably seen me wearing, because I wear it each day every day – for example in this picture.

It shows a fantastic bird on a tree spreading its wings and tail, a bird of paradise native to New Guinea on the other half of the globe, just north of Australia. It’s a Five Deutschmark coin from 1894. Germany, compared to other nations, had relatively few colonies and for a time, half of New Guinea was one of them.

My Great-Grandmother, when she was 22, packed a trunk and a travel-harmonium, boarded a ship and set out to Papua New Guinea to marry her fiancé, my Great-Grandfather, who, I believe, was building bridges – ok, it may have been buildings too – as a construction engineer.

She settled with her newly-wed husband in their home, cultivated the garden “everything was so fertile, you just had to squeeze a tomato to have instant fruits from the vine”, she’d tell us when I was little, and she had six children, five of whom survived to adulthood – a good quota in those days –, and her first-born was my Grandfather. I remember childhood pictures of him, produced on metal plates, riding a huge tortoise in the front yard, which consisted of enormous palm trees and ferns in front of a quaint Victorian house.

Because my Great-Grandmother was a very pious woman, she bonded with the native population by playing them religious songs on her harmonium, which is something that works like an accordion, but the size of a chest of drawers and powered by air pumped through pedals. 

A lush life, perhaps, but very different from what she had left behind. After World War I, the German part of the island was given to Australia and she and her family moved back to Germany.

Whenever I think of the life she must have lived I can’t help thinking how courageous and adventurous she was, moving so far away from everything that she knew at a young age, leaving family members and friends behind, at a time where travel – and letters - took weeks on end by boat, no phone connection, without our post-modern conveniences of wifi, mobiles, pads and pods and instant connection.

And maybe part of that is why I relocated to Canada. I’ve come to think that after the fact, really. Sure, the differences between a Canadian and German life may be smaller, but, hey, living in the prairies has its own challenges, some of which you quickly learn when you buy boots and coats that are -40 degrees Celsius proof.

I’ve been here for 10 years now, and over the years, thinking about my Great-Grandmother definitely helped me be stubborn and resilient on one hand and open-minded on the other, and I am proud to be able to bond with people, building bridges on the foundation of courageousness, music and human kindness.

A session of pop-up coaching could benefit you if..

Pop-up coaching is a one-off session of talking with a professional who may or may not be knowledgable in your field, but definitely knows about structures, has experience in corporate life and business and can be a sounding board and neutral advisor for your issues.

You are likely to benefit from a one-time coaching session if you want to..

- set goals in your personal and individual life and need some reinforcement
- check if you're on the right track with your goals and endeavours
- solve a conflict or dilemma that has come up in one of your projects or teams
- get a better grip on the changes happening in your organization, department, team or project, be it as a Sponsor or as an affected Stakeholder, or as a Change Management team
- test if coaching is something that may generally help you in your career, or find out if you are compatible with a particular coach

It is usually a low-risk investment of time and money that can pay off immensely.
Book a session to try it out!

So this is Christmas, and what have we done? On Change Monitoring

The time between Christmas and New Year is traditionally used as an opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of our busy days, take a step back and reflect where you have been and where you are going.

For Change Management, this is even more of a necessity. As an Organizational Change Manager, whether you’re in the “old-fashioned” mode of ‘change after change’ or in a culture of ‘multiple clashing changes’, there are some essential questions that you need to ask yourself:

-      Is our change process still on track?

-      Have any of the conditions changed? Were they fundamental to our plans? Do we have new drivers, change agents, bottle necks or road blocks? Have new goals and objectives emerged? Are corrections necessary?

In order to answer these questions systematically – yes, organizational change management is not only systemic and intuitive, but also a systematic process – it makes sense to have concrete measurements and a description of the initial and future state so that you can

-      Describe and measure the interim state

-      Compare the interim state with your change plans

-      Correct and manage your change plans

This may sound trivial. However, in my experience sponsors in organizations that are undergoing change– for various reasons - often prove to be resistant to measuring and assessing organizational change at the beginning of initiatives, so monitoring and assessments should be the first order of the business when aligning sponsorship buy-in from the get-go.

Finally, what John and Yoko had in mind when they recorded one of the most iconic Christmas song in pop culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9EOFuuIk4, was obviously not change monitoring. But it was about reflecting the state of the world and the energy and actions that each of us can take to improve the state of the world we live in, so that it can evolve in a positive way, every day.

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Merry Christmas!

In with the New! 7 Signs that your organization/team is ready for agile Part 1

Is your organization ready for AGILE? Here are 3 of 7 signs.

1.     They can make mistakes

2.     They can facilitate 

3.     They can delegate

They can make mistakes When economic pressure builds, leaders and managers tend to have less failure tolerance. As any athlete or musician can tell you, it takes a lot of practising to internalize a new technique, move or team strategy, especially if they’re complex. Practicing is listening to your mistakes!

They can facilitate Agile is very much based on the art of open facilitation. This is not just about the ability of the Scrum Master or Agile Coach and a far cry from the misconception ‘we don’t have a project plan, we’re kind of agile’. Open facilitation evolved in the 60ies and 70ies with tools and methods such as World Café, Open Space and Visualization techniques. As Agile expert Eric Rapin says “A Scrum Master is a Zamboni”. An Agile Coach does not push his/her own agenda!

They can delegate On the flip side of the coin delegating requires trust and openness too. Sponsors are open to delegating the process to agile as a methodology, and Product Owners know how to apply the right dosis of support and involvement with the team and letting the team organize and get on with it themselves. Delegating openly means letting the team members' expertise shine!

See you on the other side ;) Happy solstice!!

Why Enterprise Architects are vital for Change Management - Part 2: OCM & EA

Organizational Change Management assignments often occur in large IT transformations, which are normally devised, planned and implemented with the help of EA (Enterprise Architecture). How does that title relate to other organizational architecture job titles (I am linking to the wikipedia definitions for easy access, and as a starting point, however, some of them have improvement potential)? And what makes close cooperation with an Enterprise Architect invaluable for me as an Organizational Change Manager - in order to ensure the success of the project?

Architecture job titles in blooming season

Enterprise Architect - plans & implements an organization's IT strategy. This may include all of the activities/designations below.
Business Architect - develops and aligns the business capabilities with corporate/business strategies & plans, frequently included in either EA or Sr. BA and/or OCM positions.
Solution(s) Architect - sometimes used as a synonym to EA, or acts as a go-between the strategic and operational players in programs, projects and architecture teams.
Software Architect, Applications Architect - basically the same, even though two different definitions exist in wikipedia. Lines up and aligns the landscape of applications in an enterprise.
Data Architect - defines and plans data storage, usage and management in systems and applications
Information Architect - does the same, additionally works with websites, intranet, taxonomies, and borders on the enterprise's knowledge management strategy.

A huge problem in transformation projects are legacy data, software, systems and, of course work processes.  
Metaphor for the lay person: If you have a TV, sound system, video recorder, CD player, game consoles for TV and handheld (different ones for each child) and maybe even a record or cassette player, some of which are connected to your PC or MAC, and you look at the CDs, DVDs, records, floppy disks and the cable salad behind your unit, upscale it to a 1,000 - 10,000 people organization, you might get a feel for what technology resources are dealing with.

A huge problem for organizations is to divide up the architectural work before the project, since the terminology and the boundaries between fields can be fuzzy. In the projects that I've been assigned to, I mostly had to do with Enterprise Architects (rather than the other titles listed above).

 

Close cooperation with Enterprise Architects to maximize success

I thoroughly enjoy working with Enterprise Architects, here's why:
When you hit the ground running on a new project, nobody can give you the low down on the lay-of-the-land as well as a good EA. Because (s)he has the eagle eye view, the EA can give you invaluable tips on peculiarities of this organization's specific environment regarding
- systems
- data
- processes, and, most importantly,
- stakeholders and sponsors
It won't take ages, because they can be as high-level as possible and as detailed as necessary. Enterprise Architects are usually pioneers and explorers, there is no better source for learning about technology and systems. A good EA knows tools & apps but is not fixated on them. 
Ideally, they are sounding boards and communicators, too. Most of the time, Enterprise Architects don't object to - and even enjoy - follow-ups further into the project, listening to the people side of the change and discussing patterns, systems and strategies. And if the Enterprise Architect says "she gets me" or "awesome work", you know you're on the right track.
Why does that make the project successful? The organizational strategy and change strategy need to be aligned to create authenticity, and, at the end of the day, be believable to the users. When the Change Manager knows the high-level perspective it is always possible to get "into the weeds" from there, the requirements, the processes, the communications, the feelings of resistance etc. etc. etc. Vice versa? Not so much..

Please do not hesitate to comment. Thank you.

Why Enterprise Architects are vital for Change Management - Part 1: What is EA anyway?

As a Manager of Organizational Change I have come to appreciate working with technology sources tremendously, in particular with Enterprise Architects. In my previous career as an expert for Organizational Communication & Development - working in lighthouse/pioneer projects and transitions of large corporate M&As long before this was even called change management - I had known IT people from some assignments facilitating teams, or teaching MBAs. When I got deeper into the IT world some 10+ years ago I remember thinking two thoughts:

• Wow. This is a completely separate culture within companies, much different from all other departments, you won't get anywhere in here without speaking what I affectionately call 'Geekspeak' (Watching 'The IT-Crowd' does help to overcome the culture clash, though..).
• And secondly, among my colleagues & friends or the (IT) Change Management Group at gpm-ipma, Germany's largest PM association, we absolutely agreed: If Change in Organizations goes wrong, it's almost always a "people problem".

I would like to reflect my view on this world back to you, maybe provide you with some fresh insights, and I'll start with the definition of Enterprise Architecture. There should really not be too many problems here, one could always look up wikipedia (how I dread the day I find out wikipedia is blatantly incorrect - always cross-check, boys & girls), or use common-sense.

Do companies know what to look for in an Enterprise Architect?

Flipping through companies' job postings, however, on the requirements side, one finds some must-haves that clearly display lack of ability to think on a metalevel. Partly, to be sure, because it makes measuring or filtering candidates' skills difficult.

Taking the term 'Architect' as a metaphor might be helpful. An Architect plans & monitors the building process of a house, she needs to know about plumbing or electrician requirements, yet doesn't have to be a plumber or electrician herself (*or himself - men are obviously included ;). Of course some time way back in her learning phase there might have been an internship, apprenticeship or practical studies field.

Back to Enterprise Architects and the metalevel. If an EA only needs to know ABOUT administrating systems, writing code etc. how can one assess if her skills are enough for a sophisticated job such as planning a business, its processes and technology?

I hear "Ask an expert" from the 3rd row. I am thus flinging this question to you, the experts among you. What criteria for skills and methods of Enterprise Architecture are indispensable to you, which parts do you value most? Is it more business or more techie or 50:50? How would you separate myth from reality? What are the obstacles in the daily routine? What difference does project management methodology contribute, scrum or waterfall?

 

I'd appreciate your input, to get a discussion going. Cheers!

And since I love thinking in terms of questions, here are the ones the next part(s) will revolve around: How does Enterprise Architecture relate to the many other Architecture job titles that seem to be in blooming season? Solution(s) Architect, Data Architect, Information Architect, Business Architect.. And what makes it invaluable for Change Managers to work closely with Enterprise Architects to ensure the success of the project?

Tune in..