Posters, posters everywhere... but noone stops to think. I have a personal opinion that there is an inverse relationship between the number of posters proclaiming principles and values on a wall (in an office, plant, mill, etc.) and the application of those principles and values in the actions, choices, and discussions you see demonstrated in that location. It's a broad, over-generalized comment, it's anecdotal... I am willing to be wrong -- this is simply my observation.
One danger of putting up posters is that management takes the "check-the-box" approach to culture: here ya go - this is our culture, any questions? And leaves it at that. That in itself isn't dangerous... what's dangerous is that management typically then doesn't act in accordance with the words on those posters. When employees see posters that say one thing and their management doing another... The posters just become slogans on a wall and get ignored like so many advertisements on TV, radio, and billboards. Or worse, employees become cynical and, well... many of you can fill in your own stories here because this scenario is unfortunately more common than we'd like to admit.
It is clear that not all cultures are good. If you want a good culture you have to cultivate it, grow it, reinforce it. That starts with knowing what kind of culture you want. We call it an MBM Culture, as enumerated in our MBM Guiding Principles. This documents succinctly the principles by which we think a virtuous and talented group of individuals should behave - its norms of behavior - and the values which they should hold dear.
You promote these principles in yourself and your team by first understanding them... and it helps a great deal to memorize them. (although that in itself is useless without then acquiring the deep understanding of the mental models driving them - but it is an important step.) Some people think that memorizing a company's principles and values is "showing off" or "kissing up." I suppose if it is done without substance and consistent action, then maybe it is. The idea is not to show people you can repeat the words -- it is to have those words and their rich meaning accessible to you to guide your actions, choices, or as you mentor others.
Ask yourself this: what is the purpose of memorizing the times tables in elementary school? How did the process unfold? At first to please the teacher? At what point did it become tacit - where you didn't even think about it anymore on your way to solving the bigger problem?
Posters on a wall accomplish nothing (in my opinion - again, I could be wrong). If you want a principled culture, you have to talk about it a lot, teach it, hold people accountable for it, evaluate and compensate them at least in part for how well they demonstrate adherence to it, and so on. That starts with leaders conducting themselves consistently with those principles, using the same language to articulate why they do what they do, the same language to mentor and coach...
It is in what we do and say, not on what we hang on a wall that matters.
There is another marvelous play on words from W. Somerset Maugham off of the phrase, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." That version is too colorful for reprint here - but less poetically it says, "you can lead people to culture but you can't make them think."
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