To Change Culture Means Changing Perceptions

“How do I change the culture within my organisation?” This is a pressing question many leaders are asking themselves nowadays to thrive and succeed in a world where everything is constantly evolving. Changing culture only happens when people do things differently, which is often easier said than done.

When leaders or leadership teams recognise the need for change and develop ideas that propel the organisation forward, there’s often an implicit assumption that others also see this and recognise the value of the new ideas. However, in practice, this is usually not the case.

New ideas are often presented as answers to questions that others in the organisation have not yet asked. Hence, new ideas are typically communicated like products you don’t care about in TV commercials that disrupt your viewing. From this perspective, it’s easy to understand why ideas for change are often rejected. Responding to this requires a communication campaign based on the belief that to stimulate transformation, you must “start with a bang” and create a “sense of urgency,” rapidly increasing resistance to turning your ideas into something practical.

As a leader or leadership team, it’s tempting to assume that when faced with resistance, people don’t understand the need for change or don’t recognise the value of new ideas and that better explanation is needed. While that may be possible, it’s usually not the real problem blocking change.

When people are exposed to a new idea, they immediately compare it unconsciously to familiar concepts, beliefs, values, and experiences and attach meaning to it. This is when questions like “What does this mean for me?” and “How will this help or hinder me?” arise. If the answer is unclear or negative, the idea is immediately rejected. Prevention is better than cure. However, a positive answer does not mean that all obstacles have been removed. Now, a more powerful question arises: “How will other people like me react to an idea like this?”

As humans, we have a deep desire to belong, to have a connection with others, and to earn the respect and approval of others. Accepting new ideas, especially ideas that challenge the identity and beliefs of the group, can threaten this desire, because “We’ve always done it this way.” In those cases, people sometimes choose not to stand out rather than do what is right.

To overcome this resistance to change, you must not look at what people do but why they do what they do. This why, this belief in what is true but incorrect from your perspective as a leader, is the key to breaking old thinking and behaviour and accelerating meaningful change. When you identify and understand this belief, you can create an experience, such as a story, demonstration, or business simulation, that challenges and changes the feeling people have about what they think is true. This way, people experience for themselves the reasons for change. This opens their eyes to new ideas that can restore normalcy in their world.

When perceptions change, behaviour changes, and thus culture changes.