OGSM

Set Your Culture on Purpose (Before it Sets You Up for Failure)

Espen Kvelland

Espen Kvelland

— 2 min read
Set Your Culture on Purpose (Before it Sets You Up for Failure)
Photo by Anthony Mapp / Unsplash

You can’t fix what you don't own. This is super important for corporate culture. We have all been to these gatherings for leaders where we all ended up with a piece of paper or a plan that states something, being a plan, vision or some other strategy document, only to allow it to disappear when everyone is back to their daily duties. By doing this, a culture is automatically set. If you choose to accept this, you have created a culture where:

  • It’s ok to waste each other’s time
  • You commit to something, but no one is held responsible for getting it done
  • Everyone talks, and no one executes

Is this a culture that fits your company? If not, I think I have some thoughts on how you can start setting direction today. Read on..

So, how do you ensure that people execute on the piece of paper that you all committed to? Are you ready for a big surprise? (Or, well, it should not be a surprise)

It starts with you

No matter if you are a formal or informal leader, you are the one who needs to change first. Let’s say you are a company that sells IT software development services, and in the management meeting, you all agreed that sales should increase by 10% in Q3.

What do you do?

You start by asking questions. You start asking questions that break it down, for example:

  • What category are we already growing in?
  • Are there any existing customers that have a new project coming that we know about?
  • How can we… (Fill in the dots)

By doing this, you start the journey of creating a culture where people question what is agreed upon, and something begins to happen in the back of people’s minds.

Hope is not a strategy

After this meeting, which I’d call a quarterly planning meeting, you shouldn’t just hope it will sort itself out. The best approach is to create a one-page plan, and in my opinion, using something simple like the OGSM is a great place to start. You don’t need any fancy software yet; just clarity on where you’re headed, how you’ll get there, who will do what, and by when…

OGSM can help you with that! Of course, a bit of hope and luck are also useful :)

If you want to download a template to get started I have prepared the template together with a few videos that will take you through how you do it. Sign up for the newsletter below, and I'll send it to you free of charge.