Acronym

When people talk about changing organizational culture, I usually scoff a little bit to myself. It makes me think of the cliché/metaphor of taking miles to change the direction of the ship and I think that's not near close enough to explaining how hard it is and how long it takes to actively change a culture.

Fast forward to a Great Ideas session this morning, "Spotlight on Innovation: First Who, Then What: Creating a Culture of Innovation," in which American Speech-Language-Hearing Assocation (ASHA) Arlene Pietranton, CAE, offered an idea I think is very interesting. ASHA has an aspirational tool it uses to help create the culture they want their organization to have. It's a one-pager with 16 statements on it, such as:

• Managers are seen as coaches and team leaders. They are valued for these skills. Leadership is participative and flexible.
• Nonconformity is accepted. People are expected to present innovative ideas. People feel free to brainstorm.
• People are highly motivated. They seize opportunities for personal growth. People view work as important and fun.

This isn't necessarily going to speed up culture change, but it does give staff aspirations and a clear idea of what the desired culture is, even if there is always work to be done to get there.

You can access the entire document for the next few months in the handouts for the session. (PDF)