The article, Cultural Change that Sticks: Start with What’s Already Working, by Jon R. Katzenbach, Ilona Steffen, and Caroline Kronley, in the July-August 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review, makes some strong points that are consistent with the evolutionary Winning Moves® approach. Just as my 25+ years of research finds that gradual evolutionary change fosters business success, the Harvard article recommends that companies build on what’s already there, rather than attempt radical cultural transformation. Recognizing that corporate culture is entrenched, the article points out that successful change is more likely if the positive aspects of the existing culture are built upon. The article tells us that honoring the strengths of the existing culture and matching culture to strategy are essential for success. These are all excellent points and are consistent with my research into business success and failure patterns.
Yet, one piece of the Harvard article might be a little bit misleading. The article states that culture trumps strategy every time. This gives the impression that culture and strategy are in competition, which is not necessarily the case. Although many strategies fail because culture is not adequately taken into consideration, this doesn’t mean culture trumps strategy. Instead, culture and strategy must fit together to bring about success. Just like all other components of the strategy development process, cultural components should be an input to strategy development. Successful strategies must fit the organization’s strengths—whether it’s cultural strengths, or any other strengths. Strategies that do not fit those strengths, are unlikely to succeed. This doesn’t mean that culture, or any other strength, trumps strategy. It merely means that strategies that do not build upon strengths generally do not succeed.
Culture often doesn’t get enough emphasis during strategy development. As a result, strategy and culture may not match and serious execution problems can easily occur. Since culture is just one more variable to consider when assessing corporate strengths and weaknesses, many of those execution problems could be prevented by giving culture adequate emphasis during strategy development. Like other strategic variables, the organization’s cultural strengths should be built upon when the strategy is developed. Thus, culture doesn’t actually trump strategy, like the Harvard article says it does, but like any strengths of the organization, cultural strengths should drive strategy. A good strategy needs to consider all of a company’s strengths, including its cultural strengths.
