Bring It On! Add Magic to Successful Culture Shift (FRIDAY program)

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The right organizational culture drives organizational results (Brooks, 2006; Gallagher, et al, 2008).  It was Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, who said “Culture isn’t simply one aspect of the game – it is the game” (2002).  As OD professionals, we are often asked to develop and implement strategies for organization change initiatives.  Using limited resources, we are tasked with managing the shift in culture created by the change, ensuring we reinforce the values and vision of the organization, engaging all levels of employees, aligning with operational performance and, oh yes – don’t drop the ball on productivity or the bottom line! And accomplish this within the allotted time frame – yesterday!

Our January 2013 program will feature discussion and practical application of a case study selected from the STL-ODN 2012 summer reading series.  The case describes a public sector organization's successful cultural transformation designed to foster a new culture of service excellence.  The strategies are research-based and backed and the steps for successful implementation are ‘spot on’ for any organization.  Given that 70% of large-scale change initiatives fail (Kotter, 2008), the nine specific and practical takeaways in this article can help OD professionals become more successful leading and managing culture change initiatives.

“Discovering the Magic of Culture Shifts” will serve as the starting point for in-depth table discussions.  We will rely on you to bring your thoughts and experiences to the table.  We invite you to read the article linked below and consider the following questions for our discussion:

• What strategies and tactics used in the article resonated with you?
• If you were leading this effort, what might have you done differently?

Link to article: Discovering the Magic of Culture Shifts by Beverly Patwell, Donna Gray and Steve Kanellakos

References:

Brooks, I. (2006). Organizational Behavior: Individuals, Groups and Organization. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Gallagher, S., Brown, C. and Brown, L. (2008), A strong market culture drives organizational performance and success. Employee Relations Today, 35: 25–31.

Gerstner, L. (2002). Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?, New York, NY: Harper Collins Inc.

Kotter, J.P. (2008) A sense of urgency. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Jan. 8th at 5:00 p.m.