CULTIVATE /ˈkʌltəˌveɪt/ (v.) to develop an attitude, a way of talking or behaving, etc.
Like an atom, the total sum of an organisation’s potential is contained within the culture. HOWEVER! A culture can’t be ‘changed’; it can only be cultivated. Culture, like any other living organism, will only grow healthy and strong if it’s given enough water (intention), sunlight (empowerment) and care (emotional intelligence).
Many organisations have identified the urgent need to change their culture to become more adaptive by investing heavily in transformation and cultural change programs. However, the fact is that most cultural change efforts fail or at best only achieve marginal improvements and temporary change. Why? Culture is only a bi-product, or an outcome, of consistent behaviours over time(Rework, 2018).
Hence, to change the culture, we need to change the underlying behaviours, and this is only possible if we also change the conclusions that inform such behaviours. This is where, in our view, most organisations fall short; they try to change the culture without closely examining and dismantling the conclusions that are no longer valid and/or no longer serves them.
