Building and Sustaining Organizational Culture

Countless books and articles have been written on this subject. I’m sure many like myself
have benefited from these books and articles.
There’s a profound quote I often use, and I believe it is applicable here.
“It is one thing to study war and another to live the warriors life”.
Telamon of Arcadia
While I would have learned from research and reading many books, This article is based on
my personal experience of ‘living the warrior’s life’ related to the title of this article.
In 1998 when I took on the role of Cultural Development Officer at The JMMB Group. This
was a few months after the passing of Joan Duncan, our Co-founder. JMMB was 6 years old
and already known as the financial institution with a culture that was different to any other in
Jamaica at the time. Before the doors opened in 1992, Joan Duncan documented the
principles on which the company would be established.
These included:
● Howteammemberswould be treated and how she wanted them to feel
● Howclients would be regarded and that there should be no differential treatment
based upon the amount of money being invested.
● Theatmosphere of openness, trust and comradry that would be fostered among
team members
● Themindset of being solutions oriented and possibility thinkers
● Theprinciples of Unconditional Love as the foundation of all our decisions.
Unlike many organizations seeking to create or improve their work culture, there was a clear
foundation upon which to begin.
This is exactly how it started for me. A conversation was had with me to explain why this role
was needed at this point in the history of JMMB and also why I was identified for the role. In
the same breath I was asked to develop a job description for the role that would be
presented for approval. There began my training in being solutions oriented and creating
from a blank canvas.
I had no training or experience for this role and I’ve never heard of a job with this title and I
felt a bit out of sort moving into a role that was undefined. Despite this I went into research
mode hoping to find a similar role in Jamaica or across the Caribbean, I came up empty
handed.
A wider search led me to look at organizational culture across the world. That’s when I
happened upon Built To Last by Jim Collin. Nuts by Kevin & Jackie Freiburg, Organizational
Culture And Leadership by Edgar Schein, The Fifth Discipline and many others. These
writers provided the necessary guidance to help me understand what was required for
building and sustaining an organizational culture that would last beyond the founders and
owned by all team members. The deeper understanding came when I had conversations
with and visited a few of the companies mentioned in the Jim Collins Built To Last.
What is Culture?
Being in that role of Cultural Development Officer afforded me the opportunity to speak on
various platforms about JMMB and the uniqueness of its organizational culture. One
question I am always asked is: “What is Culture?”- often followed up by a statement like “I
just love all the fun things you guys do “
Let me quickly say that I love the vibe and energy created by events and team engagement
activities. I’ve seen too many organizations investing heavily in events and activities and
labeling them as “the culture of the organization”.
Events and activities are great and essential for creating buzz and the basic level of
engagement. However, my caution is to not confuse these for the core of what is required to
build strong long term organizational culture.
To shorten this article, below is an image of what I learned over the years related to what it
takes to position, frame, craft, build, instill, embed, deepen and continually refining
organizational culture. Culture is expressed in the way people feel and more importantly how
people’s experiences are consistent with what you say about the organization, how the
policies and processes make them feel and how authentic and available leaders are for
internal and external clients. A strong organizational culture celebrates the uniqueness of
their people

THE ROCK SOLID CULTURE MODEL

There are multiple components to the Rock Solid Culture Model. Experience has taught me
that the best approach to choose a few key areas of focus and not try to take on the entire
model all at once as the organization still has to operate and burnout is real when attempting
to change, implement and embed anything that is new and different in the organization.
‘Transformation’ is such a beautiful word and often used as a marketing tool. I’ve seen where
this word is especially attractive to SMEs who desperately want to position their organization
and culture into the future. Culture Transformation is like swimming. You cannot learn to
swim by reading about it in a book. The only way to become a swimmer is to get in the water
armed with all your fears, poorly executed strokes, breathing patterns and other things that
need refinement. You can be guided and coached but becoming a swimmer is all up to you
doing the work. Similarly, no one can sell you Culture Transformation and it is unlikely to
happen by reading about it.
My caution to both SMEs and larger organizations is to first understand that building and or
transforming your organization’s culture a non-linier ongoing process that can only happen
from the inside. It is important to ask questions to understand the experience and successes
of consultants in the area. Be careful of technical buzz words frameworks from books and
articles on Culture.
Understand also that while there are HR elements involved, building organizational culture is
not just the job of HR. There needs to be a strategic positioning of culture and the
commitment must be demonstrated at the highest levels of the organization.
Based on the experiences I’ve gained since 1998, from being in the trenches, bringing heart
and soul to help frame, build, deepen and strengthen the organizational culture of The
JMMBGroup across the Caribbean, and also from guiding other organizations on their
journey, I can confidently say that like learning to swim, transformation cannot be bought,
sold or directed.
Transformation is only possible when hearts are touched, moved and inspired. When leaders
and people at all levels of the organization have a deeper level of understanding of
themselves and are ready to make a commitment to continually work on shifting beliefs and
behaviors to impact something that matters. As indicated in the ROC Model above, much of
the work happens beneath the surface but the result is very rewarding.
I’m thrilled to be positioned to offer guidance and Advisory Services in the area of Culture
and People related matters to many organizations including The JMMB Group, where it all
started over 30 years ago. Through MuchMore, I’m also able to bring my whole self to
impacting the continuous evolution of organizational cultures and on guiding people towards
the greatest expression of themselves.
MuchMore is by no means looking to become a popular consulting firm. The focus is on
partnering, adding value and making an invaluable impact