Are You Being Bitten By The Unwritten?
We are currently facing the greatest reset the world has ever seen! In this rapidly changing world, are you being bitten by unwritten rules hidden in your company culture? Unwritten rules often lead to mediocracy - lowering your business performance. So, how do you go about improving these to boost business success in the next normal?
Shut up - this is the way we do things around here
Have you ever had that feeling that you’ve accepted a new job, or perhaps you got that big promotion, but the moment you walked through the doors of the new company your got a gut-wrenching, stomach-clenching feeling that told you - Uh Oh! you've taken the wrong job?
Or imagine, you might step in to a meeting room on that first day, and it suddenly went quiet when you sat in that big chair at the head of the table? Or your cheery, 'Hi-ya' to the smartly dressed lady in the lift gets greeted with an icy stare? Alternatively, everyone in your first important meeting starts emailing, or stepping out of the meeting to make calls when you stand up to present?
It could be an awkward moment, when you suggest that 'we need to get out and knock on some doors' to generate new business meet with a chorus of, 'That’s not how we do things around here.'
At one level unwritten rules (and what happens when you break them) and unchallenged behaviours can be seen as just another part of our working lives and something about which to shrug your shoulders or, smile knowingly.
However, something fundamental is amiss when managers and staff trot out glib phrases such as, 'we have always done it like that' or, worse still when managers simply ignore or tolerate inappropriate conduct. They might say, 'Oh, that's just the way he/she is.' Or they simply blame the culture. But, these are often indicators of a fixed mindset - which potentially leads on to a limiting, dysfunctional culture. That, by default, leads to mediocracy and ultimately low performance.
But in the rapidly changing world, high performance teamwork will be the name of the game!
Below, are some typical examples of common unwritten rules and associated attitudes, that lead to low-performance, I have come across with leaders and teams I have facilitated. As already mentioned, these generally emerge from fixed mindset influences.
See if you recognise any in your own team or company?
What unwritten rules can you add to this list?
Real examples of unwritten ground rules and associated dysfunctional attitudes
High performing teams work on growth mindset cultures
High performing teams work on growth mindset cultures
Without clear guidelines, growth values, shared objectives and openness in communications it is very easy for organisations and teams to become very negative, fearful and, ultimately, low-performance sets in. That’s when unwritten ground rules creep into the work place by default - not design.
The good news is that it is possible to shape, define and articulate a positive and forward-looking culture that replaces the 'that’s not how we do it here' mindset with a growth perspective instead.
For example, rather than been stone-walled by ‘that’s not going to work here’, you might hear instead - 'that’s an interesting idea, how can we make it work.' Or, 'how can we learn from our mistakes and become even better.'
Remarkably, you can change unwritten rules and improve cultures by purposeful design. However, it is vital to invest in the services of a skilled leadership facilitator or culture change specialist to help you to pinpoint the nub of such issues in your teams quickly. In this way, you can contribute to creating a high-performance team that is based on growth mindset principles instead.
The key is to generate the conditions where smart people can uncover their strengths and work within the team to define a co-operative framework. Talents in the team get pooled in pursuit of a shared objective, and a can-do attitude.
Every team is different, so a top quality facilitator that can select the appropriate tools from their kit bag to help you and your team to build a better business and make all the difference.
For example, here are three practical approaches I use:
Appreciative Inquiry
An appreciative inquiry approach can build trust amongst team members and is very powerful. Simply put, it is an open discussion forum. The process facilitates people to safely reveal aspects of their lives that their colleagues didn't know about beforehand. It is a highly effective way of breaking down negative assumptions and creating trust bonds that lead to a growth mindset and positive work cultures that break past patterns.
Teams that I have worked with love this approach.
Transforming unwritten rules process
Very pertinently, running a specific 'transforming unwritten rules' workshop is an effective way of directly dealing with underlying culture and fixed mindset issues.
The first part of the exercise is to get the team to recognise and expose the unwritten rules they are subject to and their associated fixed mindset consequences. Then the next step is to explore what the positive intention of the rules might once have been. It is then possible to explore how that could be achieved in a better, more positive, growth mindset way. I have used this approach many times with all sorts of teams and it always creates change.
This is a powerful process and one that always leads to positive culture changes.
Create a Team Charter
A team charter is basically a written covenant, agreement or code of conduct that the team work together to create. It can consist of a set of core values, habits and/or behaviours that the team are then willing to commit to, with each other and in their day-to-day work.
This helps teams to define a positive culture and commits the team to operate using qualities that lead to high performance and a growth mindset. The Team Charter process is a great way to enable both an initial change and building in resistance to those negative impulses in the future. This process can't be rushed through, it takes time.
I often do a blend of all three of these with Leadership teams as one builds progressively on the other.
So, if your company culture is being “bitten by the unwritten” – these are examples of ways and means of breaking these unwritten rules. It is certainly possible to turn things around to create a high-performance team. As already stated, this is vital to create the next normal in this rapidly changing world. Please contact PDX if you want to talk through any unwritten rules that might be holding your business back.
For more information, you might also find my book, ‘Developing High-Performance Teams’ useful to deal with unwritten rules as described above.
Another great source of expert information on this subject is to refer to Steve Simpson’s work on ‘Unwritten Ground Rules’ - UGR’s - https://www.steve-simpson.com
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Note - original version was published by me in May 2017
Andrew Jenkins - PDX CEO
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