I’ve read numerous books and articles on Cultural Transformation and, frankly, it’s overwhelming. Therefore, I’ve finally broken it down by comparing it to me: I am my own culture and my culture changes as life goes by. My own personal culture is different than it was five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago.
And you are your own private little culture. Here are the parts of your own culture:
- You have a personality.
- You have your own language.
- You have your own rules by which you live.
- You have moments of personal accomplishments you celebrate.
- You have your own vision for the future.
- You even have your own unique financial commerce
As you’ve matured, these things have most likely changed.
Once we add another person or persons into the mix, whether it is a family, a religious or civic organization, or our work place, we find that each one has its own unique culture. All of the parts of your individual culture also apply to a group.
Assuming life never remains static because all things are constantly in a state of change, then we can be a positive influence on cultural transformation in our own sphere of influence. Let’s break it down some more:
- Personality
What’s the personality of the group? Negative? Positive? Trusting? Suspicious? Lazy? Workaholics? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
- Language
What are the shared phrases of the group? What’s the language like? Are there certain words that alienate people? Is the language negative or positive? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
- Rules that govern
There are written and unwritten rules each group lives by. Is showing up late acceptable? Is fudging the books a little bit okay? Is treating all people dignity part of the rules of engagement? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
- Moments of celebration
What are the benchmarks and moments the group celebrates? How do you know when you hit a home run? Where’s the fence? Are there rewards for overall group performance? Does the family go to Disney? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
- Vision for the future
Does your group have a shared vision? Who casts that vision? Is there room for individuals to have their own personal visions (performance) that supports the vision of the group? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
- Financial commerce
How is money viewed? Is there a hoarding mentality? Investment mentality? Spend-it-all-because-tomorrow-we-might-die mentality? What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
So as the culture of yourself, your family, your civic or religious organization, or your workplace changes because life never stays the same, then you can be proactive in influencing that change by implementing, in your own sphere of influence, any and all of these parts of a culture.
What would you like it to be? What can you do to make it that way?
One of my favorite quotes is from Walter Wink who says, “We must go into our culture believing we have the power to transform it without any demonstrable proof of our success.” At the end of the day, what matters most is that we tried to impact positive change in our own little corner of the culture.
Would you like to write a guest blog for me talking about a cultural change of which you’ve been a part? Please email me: rick.mcnary@gmail.com
I’d love to hear your story and share it with others!
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