This summer we had a difficult experience at a summer day camp – with bullying.  Bullying specifically that used ingroups and outgroups to create a power structure among a poorly supervised group of 5 – 7 year old boys. 
What this bullying resembled; strangely enough, was the type of behaviour I encounter in organizations with toxic cultures but without some of the more telltale signs of “schoolyard” bullying.
I talk through a few examples of where I’ve experienced toxic culture and the tools I use to spot it. And the role and responsibility of leadership to identify the precursors to toxic culture and what they can do to change it.
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As mentioned in my last episode, I spent some of my vacation time in the summer listening to a backlog of podcast episodes. One of the podcasts I regularly listen to is Akimbo by Seth Godin. 

In an episode from this summer, titled: Creating the Conditions for Change Seth talks about his experience changing a culture at a summer camp and the specific actions that he took to make the change happen. 

This links into a key concept that Seth outlines in one of the first episodes that re-ran this summer: Status Roles.    If there is one link you follow or one episode that you listen to from Akimbo, please make it this one.  

The reason why Connected Change includes Power and Influence as an element and, also culture, is because of Status and Affiliation, and how this contributes to culture and how you can use it to change culture. 

This is linked into the concept of recognition and rewards that I talked about in this episode of Change Course.  When I say that recognition needs to be visible and come from a person with power, this is the underlying reason why. 

This is also one of the things that drives the adoption curve (diffusion of innovation) – the fear of being left behind. 

Fully captioned videos are available on YouTube

One of the things that I did over my summer break was catch up on a slough of podcast episodes that I hadn’t had a chance to listen to over the winter.  One of my favorite podcasts is Akimbo by Seth Godin.  Seth has been an inspiration for how I work and approach what I do, including (for those who are in the know) “ship the work” and his musings on culture, and change. 

A question that sparked my interest came up in the episode linked below, that in essence asks “what about the next change? How do we approach change better” and it got me thinking… I’m typically focused on how to help you work through the change problems that you’re facing and how to do change better in your current environment. But what do you need to change to make CHANGE easier and better as you go along? 

Seth has some ideas and a great example.  This is also why I link culture through connected change and why this link is vital. So how do you make change better the next time?

1. Culture of your organization – are you built for change?  What things can you do to make change easier and better?  Here I talk about continuous improvement, sail trim 1   and sail trim 2 and windfinder.
2. Systems – are you flexible or inflexible? Do you have ways to make more flexibility and change in your organizational systems?
3. Core values and beliefs – back to my favorite Heraclitus of Ephesus

 
https://play.acast.com/s/akimbo/help-wanted

​The Question and answer exchange that I refer to starts at 23:40 and ends at 26:25
 
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“Back to Life, Back to Reality, Back to the Here and Now…” I had this song in my head when I was thinking about this episode.

How is the back to the office transition going for you?  In many ways, September marks back to school, and back to business.

Here are my essential tips from the perspective of a change manager on how to weather this storm. 

1. The change is happening to you (which is why you feel the way you do)
2. Be kind to yourself (your emotions and feelings are valid)
3. It is another transition so treat it that way. It will take time to get back into the groove of working in an office space again, and you will be tired, it will feel like learning something new again
4. It will be distracting and likely, overwhelming
5. Some of you might feel relieved (getting OUT of the house might be helpful)
6. We have built great routines based on how we work best. Some of those routines can and should be built into your “in office” routine. (like breaks, rest, exercise and not sitting at a desk the whole time)

​Good luck and I hope some of this change theory and practice is helpful.
 
Fully captioned videos are available on YouTube

​References:
​The Essential Soul II Soul