Category: culture

Replacing the fences

FabrizioLeave a comment

You are given a straightforward task: replacing the fences that surround the garden of four houses (A, B, C and D).

Some people would have a plan, a modus operandi, something they have refined with years of experience. And let’s say that their plan is to replace the fences of house A, then the fences of house B, then the fences of house C, and finally the fences of house D. The problem they are solving is replacing the fences.

Some people would go around the houses first, and take note of the fences that are in worst conditions. They would make some sort of list, and they would then perhaps start by replacing the fences in house B, then the fences in house D, then the fences in house C, and eventually the fences in house A. The problem they are solving is making sure that the fences do not fall, and perhaps even cause some damage to the gardens or to the people who live there.

Some people would go around the houses, take note of the fences that are at risk of falling off, provide a temporary fix to safeguard gardens and people (for example, to house B and house D), and then go about replacing the fences with the plan they have put to test in their multiple years in the field (A, then B, then C, then D). The problem they are solving is making sure the fences do not fall and cause harm, while at the same time being efficient in completing the task.

The problem you are out to solve is rarely as simple as you believe.

And by the way, which one of the above is your company?

Excuses and reasons

Fabrizio5 Comments

Excuses are what you come up with when attempting to convince about something you did (and shouldn’t have done) or did not (and should have done).

Reasons are circumstances that explain why you have not done something you should have, or have done something you should not have.

Excuses are fragile. They are usually ex-post (they come after the fact). They border with lies, and as nobody wants to think of themselves as a liar, they set up for discordance and self-criticism, and eventually undermine the intention of doing.

Reasons are solid. They are usually ex-ante (they come before the fact). They fire up compassion and kindness towards ourselves, and they do not harm our will to do what we initially set out to do. Perhaps under different circumstances, or better equipped to face the ones that have emerged.

Eventually, only you can say if it’s excuses or reasons you are using to not show up.

Honest

FabrizioLeave a comment

Honesty can only work when it’s two-way.

You can’t be honest if you do not accept others to be honest with you as well, and you can’t demand honesty if you are not honest in the first place yourself.

It’s about building trust and knowing that the other is going to be on your side when it matters. Sometimes by putting you in front of harsh truths, sometimes by telling you well timed lies.

Saying “let’s be honest with each other” is a commitment for the long term, something you have to start building day-in and day-out, with practice and consistency.

It’s not something for a two-hours meeting.

No competition

FabrizioLeave a comment

Help, gratitude, kindness. There’s no competition when you start practicing them.

If you help somebody and another person does the same, all the better. If you are grateful for something, and then something else, and another thing yet, there’s just more to be gained. If you are kind by default, and your neighbour is kind too, and their neighbours too, it’s a great thing for the whole community.

We are so often stuck in a constant race that we easily forget how not everything rewards the first and forgets the others.

Culture is action

FabrizioLeave a comment

It’s impossible to talk about culture without taking behaviour into consideration.

You can read a book, spend time investigating what type of culture is a winning culture, have consultants come in and tell about the frameworks they have studied. But at the end of the day, culture is what you do. Culture is what the people around you do. Culture is in the actions and details.

That’s why it’s important to build cultures with examples. And in the long term, I am more and more convinced that coaching, both internal and external, is the only way to spread the culture as the company grows and the market changes.

Learning about culture is great, as it gives you the basics to discuss it in your organization and go about it strategically. Yet, remember that culture is not telling and cannot be commanded. Culture is action.