Cultural operating systems should enable execution and innovation - Vermaak

"As with electronic devices, companies are also governed by operating systems, and this defines a set of rules that guide the behaviour of employees when they enter a high-stakes meeting, react to abrupt organisational changes, or contemplate what to do with discretionary time," says Vermaak. While today's software systems rely on complex operating systems that offer hundreds of features and functions, an organisation's cultural operating system only needs to enable two functions. The measure of a good COS is the degree to which it enables an organisation to execute superbly and innovate consistently.

Crucial enablers of a COS

Vermaak says that according to research undertaken by international partner VitalSmarts, there are four crucial enablers of a COS: Self-directed change, intellectual honesty, 360-degree accountability and influential leadership:

1. Self-directed change:
   The unwritten rule in most organisations is resist change. Change only happens when people are dragged kicking and screaming into it! Ultimately, organisational change requires individual change. Limited ability for personal change robs organisations of a core competence required to drive flawless execution and vital innovation. As a result, key initiatives are led by a small pool of self-starters - or they do not happen at all. Most organisations attempt to compensate for widespread ineffectiveness at self-directed change through supervision rather than leadership. They install tall hierarchies designed to ensure people behave as needed - assuming that without compulsion, little would happen. The most basic building block of a powerful cultural operating system is the capacity to effectively engage in independent action.
   
2. Intellectual honesty:
   The greatest impediment to leveraging the potential of a workforce of subject-matter experts is people's innate reluctance to speak honestly about emotionally and politically risky issues. Reluctance and the inability to speak up are a primary cause of poor decisions, half-hearted execution, employee disengagement and stifled innovation. "When people can't speak the truth to those in power, the organisation loses its ability to self-correct and its capacity to handle the unexpected," says Vermaak.
   
3. 360-degree accountability:
   A weak COS is one where those who see problems say nothing because they assume they do not have the power or authority to raise a concern. Time, resources and morale are wasted through an unwritten rule that "accountability is someone else's job." In most organisations, a culture of collusion prevails - one where individuals see problems but say nothing, assuming someone "up there" will deal with it. In so doing, they unwittingly collude in undermining results.
   
4. Influential leadership:
   When leaders are not skilled influencers, they create "flavour of the month" organisations that rotate through trendy change initiatives - even when their own strategic goals remain constant. Leaders who think deeply and skilfully about the forces that shape behaviour, and who creatively engage all of these forces to create positive change, create cultures of confidence. In these organisations, employees hold leaders in higher regard and feel optimistic that even profound changes will lead to improved future performance.

Leaders who lead the way in creating a COS characterised by self-directed change, intellectual honestly, 360-degree accountability and influential leadership harness the full potential of their human resources. And in so doing, they leverage what research shows is the most potent predictor of sustained value for customers, employees, shareholders and the world - a high-performance cultural operating system.

For more information, go to www.humanedge.co.za.