Culture and Change in a Nontraditional Workplace
I was recently watching a science show with my son. The narrator was discussing the diversity of trees. He pointed out that even the least hardy trees have life spans equal to humans and the most impressive can live thousands of years. Regardless of its type, each tree must change in real-time to weather the seasons. Many can only exist in very limited environments, while others can thrive nearly anywhere. All of this got me thinking about company culture and change in the workplace.
We are challenged with a workplace transformation unlike any we have experienced since women fully entered the professional workforce in real numbers more than 60 years ago. This change is faster and more dramatic than the addition of desktop computers or the internet. While the times require us to change strategy and tactics, it is important to remember that our culture governs the speed and methods we can use to support our future.
Our culture is like a tree, from the roots to the tips of the branches. These aspects follow a deeply held code, the DNA, that defines the shape, strength, and environment best suited for that type of tree. There is a reason why all spruce trees look similar. It is deeper than the location or climate, it is the essence of the tree itself. This is why different types of trees can flourish right next to each other. Palms next to oranges. Pines next to elms. Each has found its own very unique way to successfully exist.
Our company cultures are similar. They take years and many people to evolve, form, and finally crystalize. A company culture is its DNA. This is why some companies can move quickly and others more deliberately. This is why some can grow huge and others remain lean.
Each tree is also purpose-built to weather things that happen on both a regular basis, like seasons and an occasional basis, like fires. The leaves, flowers, and cones of a tree come and go. They serve a short-term purpose, then disappear. While they are what we most often recognize about a tree, leaves can be removed without damaging the tree. You can shape them, without making the tree more capable of surviving in a different climate.
Fires are more like our current situation. They are devastating but less so than we often imagine. When a fire rips through a forest it takes many trees, often the oldest and weakest, with it. But the fire often leaves even more trees living in its wake. Scorched and blackened, naked without leaves and its smallest branches, the tree inside continues to grow. Over months or years new branches and leaves emerge, just as green (or red, or purple) as the ones before them. Their shapes are largely the same as they were before. This is culture in action.
Changing a company’s DNA is a futile and counter-productive exercise. If you are going to effectively change to a more remote workplace, a leaner workforce, or even simply return to work in any manner, your ability to build to your culture will be essential to your success. Recovering after a fire is not the time to decide to become an entirely different tree.
Recovering from something traumatic requires nearly all of your energy and focus. Attempting to become something totally different while you recover is unrealistic. And, I know some of you reading this are thinking about the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly, but you must remember that transformation is part of their DNA, not something they learned on the fly. Now is the time to clearly understand your culture and determine how, within that framework, you can best manage the change that must come as a result of recent upheaval.
