Culture · Shaping it · Component
Culture shift brief
One assumption to move from and towards, why the strategy needs it, what must be protected on the way, and the evidence that would show movement.
The deliverable
What it is
Culture change described in adjectives — more agile, more customer-centred — cannot be tracked and is quickly absorbed into the espoused level. The brief narrows the ambition to a named assumption and the behaviour it produces, which is small enough to observe and large enough to matter.
It is the cultural intent of a change, not the change programme. Structural changes, decision rights and the management of adoption sit in the Organisation object; the brief says which assumption they are meant to move.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
From and to
The current assumption and the intended one, each stated plainly and linked to its entry in the assumption map.
3 attributes: Current assumption · Intended assumption · Strategic reason
LearnProtected strengths
The parts of the existing culture the change must not damage, named so they can be watched throughout the shift.
2 attributes: Strength · Evidence of it
LearnEvidence of movement
The observable signs that would show the assumption moving, with a baseline and fixed dates for re-reading.
3 attributes: Indicator · Baseline taken · Re-read on
Learn
If the brief cannot name one assumption, it is describing a mood. Moods do not shift on request.
The other components in shaping it
System lever register
The systems that currently reward the assumption being shifted, the change made to each, and who owns that change.
LearnLeader behaviour commitments
What named leaders will visibly pay attention to and how they will meet the first critical incident, read by the people who report to them.
Learn