Consistency Is the Key to Cultural Change

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Amanda_Fajak]Amanda Fajak
This heading seems to be a contradiction in terms. Isn't change all about doing things differently, being adaptable? Where does consistency come in?
I was facilitating a group of people recently and we were talking about the importance of trust in building them as a team and in creating the culture they wanted in the workforce. Through extensive discussion they ended up boiling down the key to trust for them as being consistent and making the time.
In that session it struck me yet again how much of a foundation to cultural change, in fact any sort of change, consistency was.
What is consistency? Consistency is a certain repeatability of behaviour so that people can predict how you are going to respond in any given situation and also know with clarity how they are expected to operate. If culture is largely shaped by people's expectations around how to behave, consistent leadership behaviour is key.
So how does it work?
I remember walking through a workshop with a leader who was lamenting the fact that despite repeating the importance of safety, holding regular safety meetings, doing safety audits and the like - all best practice components of being safe - they still weren't getting a shift in culture. "For example" he said, look at that guy over there, he is not even wearing his gloves properly". At that point I was confused and asked him - "how come you haven't said anything?" and his response was very telling "why worry about the little things when we can't even get the big things right!" What this manager had missed was a significant moment of truth.
The reality is that our culture is merely an amalgamation of a whole lot of little moments. Occasionally a big event comes along such as a natural disaster that dramatically shifts how people operate but this doesn't sustain, it is focussing on the little things every day that matters.
Was this manager wrong? In fact in my experience most managers under appreciate the importance of the little things and the importance of being consistent every time.
Some of you may have seen the video clip from the 2009 Sasquatch Music Festival - if not I recommend you have a look at it now   rel=nofollow [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk. This video is a great example of the importance of consistency (it is also a great example of creating a movement). In this clip, one lone nut dances on a hill for what feels like ages when you first watch it. In fact it is only 3 min and 6 sec. In the course of this time he is joined by 1 then another individual before the whole crowd runs down from the hill to join them. What would have happened if this Lone nut would have stopped for a break and grabbed a drink of water? Nothing! People would have seen him as inconsistent, they would have been less drawn to him and no-one would have been tempted to join him as they would have been afraid he would stop and they would be on their own.
Consistency is key to cultural change.
The complexity for leaders is this - every decision, every interaction with someone, is a moment of truth. When I coach leaders and work with leadership teams about how to shift their culture, the things that often overwhelm them is that culture is not just a HR project it is everything that they do every day. Every budget decision, every performance discussion that they choose to have or not have, every behaviour they choose to ignore, every time they do or don't walk their own talk.
In summary, one of the key phrases I use again and again with the leaders I work with is this - as a leader, you get what you do and you get what you tolerate.
The author, Amanda Fajak is a Partner at Reveur. Reveur, make culture tangible and help clients build a plan to proactively manage or transform the culture of their business as a part of their strategy to achieve business outcomes. Reveur Partners are cultural experts with senior line management, academic and consultancy experience. For more information about Reveur please go to [http://www.reveur.com.au]http://www.reveur.com.au.
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