Ep.9. 3 Ways to Accelerate Culture Change (Podcast Show Notes)

By Lead with LevityMarch 9, 2024

Min Read

Episode: 9
Title: 3 Ways to Accelerate Culture Change
Release Date: October 28, 2019
Guest: Kirsty Bashforth
Organization: QuayFive Ltd

Welcome to the Lead with Levity podcast. My goal is to interview a diverse set of leaders who are interested in making a big impact on the employee experience and willing to share their perspectives on levity at work.

If someone told you that your culture needs a reboot where would you begin? How long does it take to change a culture?

Tune in as we discuss practical ways to shift corporate culture. Today we will be joined by Founder and CEO of QuayFive, Kirsty Bashforth!

Kirsty Bashforth is founder and CEO of QuayFive Ltd, and 20+ year veteran of British Petroleum (BP). Kirsty shares her experiences helping BP shift its culture after the Macondo well oil leak in 2010.

A change management professional, Kirsty Bashforth reveals:

key questions for any CEO who wants a shift in company culture;
factors that determine how long a culture change takes; and,
three practical tips on changing company culture.

TIME STAMPS

[02:54] Introduction to Kirsty Bashforth

[04:23] The sort of companies Kirsty typically works with

[05:15] How Kirsty rose through the ranks at BP and helped change the company culture

[06:16] Kirsty’s first question to any CEO who says, “I need to change our culture. We have these values on the wall, and we’re not living up to them.”

[09:31] How long does it typically take to shift company culture?

Rule of thumb Kirsty uses — For a proper shift, it takes three cycles of any process [11:16]
Factors that affect how long it takes to shift company culture [12:17]

[12:37] Three practical tips for changing a culture

Align your culture with your strategy. [12:55]
Treat culture as an equal partner with strategy. [13:13]
Think behavioural economics, not traditional project management. [13:49]

[16:10] You’ll never get everybody as engaged as you’d like.

[17:17] Shifting big organisations depends on the operating model and ownership structure of the company.

[18:14] Kirsty’s biggest challenge when trying to work with different organisations

[20:26] Kirsty’s positive experiences with some leadership teams

[22:51] Cultural diversity in the workplace — Some of the richer conversations Kirsty’s had about culture were when there were more geographic cultures in the room

QUOTES

— On workplace culture

The workplace culture is people’s habits, behaviours, perceptions, assumptions that all add up to “the way things are done around here”.
A lot of it [workplace culture] comes from the individuals. It’s not as simple as telling one of us to behave differently or to have a different habit.

— On shifting company culture

The starting point for many who haven’t thought about this topic much is, it’s either the wrong words are on the wall [they think] or it’s because they are struggling with “something about our culture doesn’t seem to help where we need to go as a company.
We can start off by assuming the problem [with the company culture] is those people over there. But when I try to help leadership teams really work out, it actually often starts with us.
I never start with “this is what we need to do; this is how long it will take” because each situation, each context, each CEO, each team, each crisis or planned disruption is very different.
I think it’s often all about the people. I think the only way a company can shift its culture is all of its behaviour shifts from the inside.
“To get the organisation to shift, individuals have to shift.” Heather.
There’s a third of people who like change, a third of people who are resistant to change, and a third in the middle who are passive. You’ll never get everybody, but the group in the middle are probably the most critical.
The more geographic cultures that are in the room, the more time people take to try to understand what the other person is saying.

— On time it takes to shift company culture

The longer people have had careers in that organisation, the harder those habits are to shift.
Things can go quicker if a company is in complete crisis because people are willing to look at any topic and they’re much more open to looking in the mirror.
Quick wins are excellent signals to get going, but they are NOT shifted habits.

— Practical tips for changing company culture

An effective workplace culture is one that aligns with your strategy.
If you’re going to have a long-term, effective work culture, treat culture as an equal partner with strategy.
Everybody’s rationale, ambition, background, how they interpret data is all different. So, just giving people one instruction and assuming they’ll do the same thing is not how real culture shift works.
Shift the system, not just focus on the behaviour you want.
If you shift the system to embrace, embed, and draw in the cultural expectations, eventually the idea that you want will come.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Culture Shift: A Practical Guide to Managing Organizational Culture by Kirsty Bashforth

GET CONNECTED

Connect with Kirsty Bashforth: LinkedIn | Twitter: @quayfiveltd

Visit https://www.leadwithlevity.com if you’re interested in learning more about this concept or connect with us on social media to get updates on new shows.