CULTURE IS NOT IN OUR DNA

Culture has two possible routes of change, evolutionary and behavioural. Organisations need to understand both to effect cultural change.

Culture is not always part of our organisational DNA.

It's more plastic than this.

This often mid-held belief holds us back from being courageous and intentional in moving towards the path of real change.

There is a seismic difference between behaviour change and evolutionary change. As leaders, we need to understand both and be aware of how each affects our organisations.

Hedgehogs in the U.K. got progressively faster at moving in the years following the advent of the car. Those that were slow, died. Those that were faster, survived and created offspring that were faster.

Blue Tits loved the creamy fat on top of milk bottles and when their world changed, with the crafty milk producers putting foil caps on, they learnt how to take them off. They then spread this new behaviour throughout their species by training trainers.

Hedgehogs, evolutionary change, slow and often unintentional.

Blue Tits, behavioural change, rapid and usually intentional.

If we want to change the culture in our organisations, enhance our governance and be able to respond when our world changes, we need to instigate programmes and systems that encourage both evolutionary change and behavioural change.