We all have our routines to make sure we remember every activity.  In the morning, my routine helps me as I age to remember the increasing number of things I should do.  If I vary that routine, I invariably forget something. The same is true with our jobs, our organizations, and our processes at work.

In the fourth post in our series on organization culture, we look at how to design and execute a successful culture change. Previous posts addressed the risks associated with toxic culture, defining culture, and the impact of toxic people have on culture.

In our first two posts on organization culture, we looked at the macro elements of culture and the key elements that had to be understood before effective culture change is possible. In this post, we look at how individual team members can impact culture and some of the change options available to counteract the culture impact of bad actors.

In our last blog, we commented on how toxic cultures are impacting both brick and mortar organizations as well as virtual ones.  Culture is such an intangible to most people that leaders frequently do not know how to shape or manage such an intangible.   The culture – both the current and desired – needs to be defined. 

Recent headlines, should serve as a warning, failure to address a toxic culture can destroy the credibility and potentially the very existence of any organization.  Brick and mortar companies long ago recognized that culture (and values) impacted their ability to perform well by negatively influencing/impacting their employees and the decisions they make daily.  Now, everyone is reading about sexual harassment at Uber.  Fox News has lost/fired several of

Most organization transformations either result in new staffing requirements, employee positions deleted or changed, or some combination of all three. Getting the right person in a position where they have the greatest potential to contribute is a critical success factor when looking at long-term results.

The following article, by Richard L. Zdunkewicz of Acclaim Energy Advisors, should give us all pause, as we ponder our energy costs going forward.  With the increasing dependence on natural gas for electric power generation, is it time to reconsider changing the way you buy, consume, and most importantly waste the energy you are paying for? 

Is the effort it takes to capture lessons worth it? Can teams truly share know-how in a way that results in bottom line success?   TBO recently answered these questions and more at the PMI Houston Conference, where we led a break-out session on “Optimizing Teams within a Project Management Program.”

Wherever you come down on the science, politics, or social impact of global energy consumption, it is indisputable that organizations that improve the ratio of production-to-energy consumed improve their bottom line.  If they operate for profit, this is real ownership value and if they are a government agency or not-for-profit they can turn dollars saved into improved service delivery.  How big is the opportunity? The EPA reports that American business wastes 30% of the energy they consume¹.