Comments on: Making Culture More than a Nice Word

By: Kim Austin

Kim Austin — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:33:36 +0000

Thanks much for the positive feedback. Now I’m trying to figure out what to serve for breakfast at that staff meeting. Many thanks!

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By: Touchbase (First Name)

Touchbase (First Name) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:40:39 +0000

Really interesting perspective and great read.

From a broader perspective, this post ties in nicely to Peter Drucker’s managerial idea, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Love the part about your next staff meeting-

If employees are engaged, feel like they contribute some sort of value, and have the capabilities to COLLABORATE- there’s no question that the organization will operate more efficiently and effectively.

Great post.

-Touchbase

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By: Kim Austin

Kim Austin — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:57:50 +0000

Jamie: Thanks much for the feedback and the comment. We’re definitely in agreement! The more organizations evolve and hierarchies flatten, the more important the human factors become. It’s not just about successful management, but between teams, among groups, and direct peer-to-peer collaboration as well. Thanks! ~Kim

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By: Jamie Notter

Jamie Notter — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:57:23 +0000

YES! In Humanize we talk a lot about collaboration. We looked to social media as our role model, and realized it went way beyond just working together on projects. Like you point out, it’s fundamentally about spreading some power–shifting it towards the periphery, creating more interdependence in the system. That makes for a more powerful system.

If you want to shift your culture in this direction, then a few things come to mind. First, work on relationship building. I think relationship building should be a skill we teach in organizations–particularly learning how to build relationships with entire networks, rather than just other individual people. The stronger you get at relationship building, the better equipped you’ll be to collaborate.

And anything you can do to help build your ability to include difference will also help. A culture of inclusion really facilitates collaboration. This can start with simple things like including people in your meetings who normally aren’t there. Be strategic about it, of course, but start including people other than the usual suspects.

Awesome post.

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