The Culture Engine

The Culture Engine shows leaders how to create a high performing, values aligned culture through the creation of an organizational constitution. With practical step-by-step guidance, readers learn how to define their organization's culture, delineate the behaviors that contribute to greater performance and greater engagement, and draft a document that codifies those behaviors into a constitution that guides behavior towards an ideal: a safe, inspiring workplace. The discussion focuses on people, including who should be involved at the outset and how to engage employees from start to finish, while examples of effective constitutions provide guidance toward drafting a document that can actualize an organization's potential.

Culture drives everything that happens in an organization day to day, including focus, priorities, and the treatment of employees and customers. A great culture drives great performance, and can help attract and retain great talent. But a great culture isn't something that evolves naturally. The Culture Engine is a guide to strategically planning a culture by compiling the company's guiding principles and behaviors into an organizational constitution.

• Decide which behaviors and attitudes are desired in the organization
• Secure leader commitment to planning, drafting, and implementing the document
• Learn the most effective way to socialize the draft statement and get everyone on board
• Model desired behaviors to boost employee engagement throughout the process

Organizational culture is not an amorphous thing – it comes down from the top, inspired and exemplified by the leadership. It can steer a company up or down, keep it on mission or force it off-course. For an organization to fulfill its potential, the culture must be on-point, truly reflecting the heart of the company from leaders to team members across the company. The Culture Engine helps leaders define the playing field, pushing performance to the next level.

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction xv

How Did I Learn about Organizational Constitutions? xvii

How Is the Book Structured? xix

Chapter 1 What Is an Organizational Constitution and Why Do You Need One? 1

What Is the Condition of Your Team or Company’s Culture, Right Now? 3

The Concept of Perfection 8

How Civil Is Your Workplace? 10

Who Is in Charge of Culture? 12

Create a Pocket of Excellence 14

An Organizational Constitution Is a “Disruptive Technology” in Your Workplace 16

The Performance-Values Matrix 20

The Costs of Measuring Only Performance 23

How Does an Organizational Constitution Help Your Company, Department, or Team? 30

Client Impact 32

Your Leadership Legacy 34

Chapter 2 It Starts with You 39

Clarify Your Personal Purpose 43

Clarify Your Personal Values and Aligned Behaviors 46

Define Your Values 48

Add Observable, Tangible, Measurable Behaviors to Each Value 51

Your Values, Definitions, and Behaviors 54

Formalize Your Leadership Philosophy 56

Key Elements (Present Day) 60

Desirable Outcomes (Future State) 61

Live Well to Serve and Lead Well 63

Servant Leadership Is the Foundation 67

Chapter 3 Clarify Your Organization's Purpose 71

What Is an Effective Purpose Statement? 74

Communicating Your Company’s Reason for Being 78

What Is Your Team or Company’s Actual Purpose? 79

Humans Are Drawn to and Inspired by Great Purpose 81

Crafting a Compelling, Inspiring Purpose Statement 82

Chapter 4 Define Values in Behavioral Terms 89

Why Do You Need Values Defined in Behavioral Terms? 91

Your Beliefs May Not Be Aligned 93

Build Your Values Foundation on Behaviors 94

Step-by-Step Guidelines for Creating Valued Behaviors 97

Define Your Values 102

Include Observable, Tangible, and Measurable Behaviors for Each Value 105

Your Values, Definitions, and Behaviors 108

Chapter 5 Outline Strategies and Goals for the Coming Fiscal Year 113

Five-Point Strategic Planning Wheel 120

Who Is in Charge of Communicating Your Business Strategies and Goals? 123

Measure the Right Things 125

Build a Draft of Your Team or Company’s Strategic Plan and Goals 127

Chapter 6 Your Organizational Constitution Must Be LIVED 133

Engage All Leaders in Your Organizational Constitution’s Implementation 135

Describe the Way 141

Model the Way 147

Align the Way 150

Contribution Management instead of Performance Management 151

The Values-Aligned Tribe Culture at WD-40 Company 154

Chapter 7 Gathering Formal Feedback on Valued Behaviors 163

Is it Responsibility or Accountability? 171

Crafting Your Custom Values Survey 174

Leaders Must Be Rated on Their Values Alignment First 182

Chapter 8 Dealing with Resistance 189

What Does Resistance Look Like? 196

How Must a Leader Address Resistance? 198

Chapter 9 Hiring for Values Alignment 203

How Do You Hire Today? 205

Before the Hire—Recruiting, Interviewing, and Assessing 207

After the Hire—Orientation and Integration 211

What if the New Hire Just Doesn’t Fit? 216

Chapter 10 Don't Leave Your Organizational Culture to Chance 219

Long-Term Alignment versus Short-Term Results 222

Scoring Your Culture Effectiveness Assessment 222

Implementing an Organizational Constitution Is an Ongoing Project 225

Keep Me Informed 227

Notes 229

About the Author 235

Index 237

S. CHRIS EDMONDS is the founder and CEO of The Purposeful Culture Group, an organizational culture consulting firm. Since 1995, he has also served as a senior consultant with the Ken Blanchard Companies. Over the course of his career, Chris has delivered over 100 keynote speeches, authored or coauthored 6 books, and consulted for clients in almost every industry. He is an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego’s School of Business.

We are more aware now than ever before of the vital importance of organizational culture. No one is inspired to perform in dreary, frustrating environments, and, in the 21st century, inspiration and engagement are often the only things separating the successes from the failures. But an earnest desire to improve your organization’s culture will only get you so far. You need a tangible framework that will give shape to your good intentions. There are many such frameworks out there, but The Culture Engine is the only one that’s really in tune with the daily realities faced by leaders at all levels.

It’s true that culture-building is an ongoing process, but leaders also need to contend with the day-to-day responsibilities. Until now, no book has provided a way to solidify the culture you want without falling behind on everything else. In fact, The Culture Engine, with its emphasis on developing an organizational constitution, never loses sight of the fact that it’s the everyday tasks that add up to a successful team. The goal of this book is to provide readers with a way to build a foundation that will guide daily implementation, allowing effective leadership to really kick in.

Many managers and team leads have a nagging feeling that their people aren’t performing to their full potential. Sure, the job is getting done, but is it getting done well, or is it just “good enough”? Without a set of principles to point the way to leaders and team members alike, no amount of intervention will squeeze success out of a troubled culture. The Culture Engine shows that those principles don’t have to be nebulous and vague—quite the contrary.

Author S. Chris Edmonds walks readers through the steps to drafting an organizational constitution with the goal of clarity and a shared vision. With this vision in place, employees feel engaged and inspired to be a part of something with tangible meaning. A culture like that is the holy grail of leadership. Defining, crafting, and managing an organizational constitution per The Culture Engine’s clear instructions brings that goal within reach for all of us.