Creating a DOT-COM-COMPATIBLE Culture.

Peg Neuhauser on how to shape you internal culture to its external strategy

If ever a book epitomized the concepts it describes, Culture.com is it. The 35O-page, research-based book was written in 4 1/2 months--a record for any author or publishing house (in this case John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). As Peg C. Neuhauser, who co-authored the book with Ray Bender and Kirk L. Stromberg, admits, "It was a project that moved at 100 miles per hour. We adopted that mind-set and figured out what it would take to get it done--and just did it. It's the perfect example of the technique of time-boxing that we promote throughout the book."

Neuhauser, who will address ASAE Management and Technology Conference 2000 participants during the December 10-12 event at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., provided ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT with an in-depth interview about the book and its mantra: it's as important to ensure that your organization's culture fits the demands of the connected workplace as it is to have a well-conceived business strategy. As the book's introductory chapter explains, "If [organizations] do not change the culture to match the new strategy, the inertia of the old culture will derail the strategy. Make sure you have a two-part plan for moving to the clicks-and-mortar world: Develop your e-business strategy and change your culture so it supports the strategy."

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: In general terms, how do you define organizational culture?

Neuhauser: We suggest that managers use whatever terminology makes sense in their organization--the definition that fits or clicks best with what is going on there. Simple definitions work well. One of my clients says that culture is what you do when nobody is looking. Another common definition is "the way we do things around here." Pick the definition that fits best with the way people in your organization would describe it. The language you habitually use to describe things in your organization is one element of the culture--your own dialect that makes it easier for you to understand each other.

You can think of it another way. When an organization attempts to change its business strategies to capitalize on the dot-com world, it tends to focus on hardware and software and getting its technology up to speed. Think of a company's infrastructure as being composed of hardware, software, and peopleware. The corporate culture is the peopleware in action.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: What particular characteristics of traditional association culture do you think need to change for associations to remain relevant--and to effectively compete with dot-coms?

Neuhauser: Associations, of course, are a bit different than for-profit companies; they are more often buffeted by political issues, for example. I think there are, however, three areas that have implications for associations' ability to continue to be effective and relevant.

One issue is speed. Associations must respond faster because their members are moving faster. Associations may have a harder time doing this because they get a lot of pressure from certain constituencies to keep doing particular things. Sometimes the smart thing to do is to quit supporting these activities--so they can move faster into creating new things and in supporting better the core things they've traditionally done.

Associations also need to be alert to the fact that in the new economy you don't buy or make everything yourself; you link up to achieve it. While associations have historically developed an ability to collaborate and to create alliances, they must turn up the volume on these kinds of relationships.

The third characteristic I've observed while working with several associations is that the culture has a certain brainy quality to it; the staff is bright, analytical, and very well trained technically--whether it's in advocacy, finance, or other areas. The traits--similar to those of a think tank--have been perceived by members as quite valuable. But I'm not sure that going forward this is what the world is looking for. It tends to get members thinking that the staff is off analyzing something and not quickly providing solutions. Associations might be wise to adopt a culture more similar to that of a consulting firm where the focus is on delivering the goods rather than on overanalyzing all the issues.

Having said all of that, I think associations will rise to the occasion. That's because there's such an intense commitment level of so many people in associations. And people really are bright, well trained, and well read, and most are good listeners. These are the traits that help people tune in to what is happening out there, so association staff won't be oblivious to all these changes swirling around them. They will make mistakes, but everyone will do that. Association executives shouldn't think that everyone else has already figured it out. It's one big experiment right now, and associations are as well equipped as anyone else to pull it off.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: How does an organization figure out what parts of its culture to keep and what parts to change?

Neuhauser: With rare exception, the core values and goals are the least likely things that will need to change. But what will change is absolutely everything else in terms of how you go about achieving your mission. The projects you work on, the products you produce, the structure of the organization--all this is up for grabs. If you are not seriously tinkering with, changing, experimenting on, and piloting the activities in these areas, you are probably in trouble. What you are doing and why you believe in doing it stays stable, but how you go about it will not look five years from now anything like it does today.

I would also caution association leaders to learn how to articulate the difference between the core values and goals and the actions in support of them. In one association that I worked with, a senior manager would tell the staff: "We're going to quit working on this project and start working on a new one." Of course, the staff felt that all the work they'd done related to that project was a phenomenal waste of time. On the contrary, the leader had not changed the core goals or direction but was simply updating the actions that the team would take to accomplish those goals. She needed to explain that the association's core values and goals had not changed, but the methods of achieving them had changed.

Along those same lines, association leaders must move from the concept of job descriptions to that of skill sets that work for different projects, the mix of which will change in any given year.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: Does this concept of skill sets rather than job descriptions--and perhaps departments within an organization--dictate different kinds of work groups?

Neuhauser: I like to use the metaphor of Lego pieces to explain the concept of working in teams. In the dot-com environment, individuals are assembled into temporary teams for a specific project, and when the project is done the team is disbanded. The individuals are then reassembled on new teams with different goals.

In our research for the book, we found a variety of team structures within companies that were transitioning to the e-business environment. Work teams can range from the traditional (headed by an assigned leader, with strict reporting relationships, slow decision-making processes, and long life spans) to teams that had known no other form than the dot-com environment. This provides a continuum of options.

Researchers have found that dot-com teams exhibit five characteristics that traditional working groups do not. They are obsessed with their goal, have a creative and unconventional style, are informal and democratic, do not consider team members' feelings or personalities of great importance, and know that when the team is done, it is done.

While these kinds of teams are most frequently found in start-up companies, we are recommending that traditional organizations moving into e-business move in this direction at the same time. In Culture.com we offer some suggestions as to how to do that. (See sidebar, "Five Ways to Formulate Fast-Paced Teams.")

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: In Culture.com you present a time-boxing technique for accelerating the speed of projects and decision making. Can associations apply that concept?

Neuhauser: Time-boxing can be applied to many association projects. Once you begin working with the technique, you never again ask the question: "How long is it going to take to do this project?" With time-boxing, you start by asking, "When do we need to have this project finished in order for it to be relevant and useful to our members?" The follow-on question, then, is: "How do we have to organize, format, and structure the project--and what kind of resources do we need--to meet our deadline?"

This technique represents a much more aggressive mind-set than most associations are used to. The other element at issue here is, of course, quality. Moving at such high speed you must be very cautious not to compromise that quality. One solution is to simplify the project. If you are working on a project to launch to members on a tight time frame, you may decide to include only two or three features--rather than the 5, 6, or 10 that you might otherwise have committed to. If you cut back on the features, you can meet the time-boxed deadline.

Keep in mind too that you can't get people to speed up by telling them to be more efficient. We pretty well tapped that idea out in the '90s. If they're working on building or revamping your Web site, for example, you might have a wish list of many features, but to roll it out the door quickly, you'll need to commit to including only three or four of them--with more to come. You can also try simplifying meetings and conferences; reduce the number of speakers and breakout sessions, and allow yourself to move more quickly to develop something new that addresses an issue or trend that has just emerged on the scene. If you drop some of your features, you can speed up.

Another important concept is Peter Drucker's idea of organized abandonment. Drucker uses very stringent measures--much more stringent than those used in the past--to determine what it is that organizations should quit doing. If you are to have innovation, you need to cut off the resources to some of your legacy products and services in order to free up resources for new things.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: Have you figured out a way to apply the speed imperative to board of directors' decision making?

Neuhauser: The answer is highly dependent on who participates on the given board. In some cases, board members are coming out of the general business community and are probably at least as frustrated as the association CEO and staff because they are facing the same issues in their businesses and communities.

Basically, if you want a fast organization, you must hire or--in the case of the board, select--fast people. The culture of your organization is an amalgamation of the people who staff it. The same is true of the board. If you want an e-business-savvy board that acts quickly, then you'd better invite people with that mind-set to join your board. You can't do personality transplants once they're on board.

Of course, if you have long-term board members who are not the ideal mix, it's a slow process to change it. I might suggest setting up a speed committee or speed community similar to something we learned that IBM was doing. They assembled a speed team that was designed to study the organization and figure out how to increase the speed of activity. The members of the team were all people who had a reputation and a history for pulling off extraordinary events in the company at high speed. They were all people who worked on projects at high speed with flawless execution.

The team of 20 had the mission of identifying and articulating how they personally were able to accomplish these feats. They started telling their stories, looked for common patterns in their performance, and then tried to apply the process to other people and projects within IBM to help them achieve the same thing. It's a good culture-changing technique.

For an association or board this is fairly cost-efficient and you are basically using the collective IQ in your organization to figure out how to speed things up. I guarantee you that within most associations there are isolated examples of pulling things off with very high quality at a very fast rate. Study it, figure out what you did, and do it again. It will be a lot easier--and cheaper--than bringing in an idea from the outside that may or may not fit within your culture.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: If the CEO of a small-staff association has only the resources to make a few changes at a time, what would you recommend that he or she focus on to prepare for the dot-com future?

Neuhauser: The best answer I could give to this question--for not just the small-staff association executive, but for anyone with limited resources and time--is to review the list of 10 tips that we came up with in the concluding chapter of Culture.com. (See sidebar, "Ten Tips for Building a Dot.Com Workplace.")

The small-staff association executive in particular might want to review these tips and see which ones are most applicable for his or her association. One of the places where managers need to be very careful is in the area of recruiting. If you have a small staff and limited resources, you need to hire fast people. When someone leaves, you must focus on hiring someone who is fast and efficient. It's incredibly important right now--even when you are recruiting volunteers. Be very careful that you are considering people who have the skills you need for a given project.

Another key strategy is to simplify your projects. Keep your projects streamlined, get in the habit of using the time-boxing technique, and practice the idea of adding a few less features but getting the entire project rolled out quickly.

Finally, association executives should focus on creating an environment in their organizations where temporary teams are the norm. Encourage staff to move away from the job-description mind-set and get used to a workplace where teams are constantly moving into different configurations. Small-staff associations by necessity are already practicing this at some level, but can consciously integrate the technique into many or all of their projects.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: Can you summarize the implications that your recommended actions for shaping a dot-com culture have for association leaders?

Neuhauser: The speed of activity in the dot-com world makes it impossible for decisions to be controlled as they have been historically--by a few people at the top. With the e-business environment being driven by information and innovation, all workers must be empowered to use their skills and knowledge to make decisions and take risks on a daily basis.

This means that the CEO must begin including managers at all levels, identifying front-line or supervisory level staff to take on key roles, and letting teams make their own decisions. More important, the leader must broadcast through whatever means possible the guiding principles of the organization, create a vision of where the organization and its culture are going in the future, and live the stated values of the association--to create a momentum for everyone else to follow their lead.

The bottom line is that the leader is the primary culture carrier for the organization. If the leader's attitudes and behaviors do not match the culture that you are intending to build, it will not work. The leader and the culture must be in sync.

Carole Schweitzer is senior editor of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT. E-mail: [e-mail].

Five Ways to Formulate Fast-Paced Teams

Traditional associations that plan to compete in the new economy might do well to adopt some of the team concepts practiced by their for-profit counterparts. Here are five recommendations.

1. Recruit your most unconventional, irreverent talent to join these teams, especially if you are using these types of teams for the first time. Once you recruit a core group to start the team, let the team control its own membership. The members recruit others they need and want to work with on the project.

2. Provide the team with a space to work in where they can create a dot-com environment (messy, games around, dogs underfoot) even if you are not setting up a separate unit with a parallel culture or spin-off. Different teams can use the dot-com team space as future projects unfold.

3. Give the team a budget and resources that it can use without having to ask permission every time a cost or need arises.

4. Build in high-profile rewards (both monetary and recognition based) for project success. Provide some rewards for effort and more for success. This is particularly important in traditional companies that are transitioning to this type of team. Employees are watching to see how the company reacts to the teams that do not produce successes. Make sure they are rewarded for effort and treated respectfully so that employees get the message that it is worth the risk to join one of these teams.

5. When employees start to ask, "How can I get on one of those teams?" the change to dot-com teams is starting to take hold in your culture.

Adapted with permission from Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace (John Wiley ft Sons, Inc., 2000), by Peg C. Neuhauser, Ray Bender, and Kirk L. Stromberg.

Ten Tips for Building a Dot-Com Workplace

The authors of Culture.com conclude their book with a round of practical advice based on "what we would say if a reader asked for a few quick pieces of advice that capture what we learned from researching and writing this book." Here's what they said.

1.RECRUIT FOR CULTURAL FIT. Building a corporate culture that fits your needs requires a critical mass of employees who are committed to the culture's core beliefs and values--with work habits to match. It is much easier to hire people with these traits than to change their personalities after they are hired. Ask questions in interviews and listen carefully to stories about previous work experiences. Listen for cultural fit, and if you do not hear it, beware. You may be hiring the skills you need but damaging your chances for building a strong culture.

2. SPEED UP YOUR CULTURE. Time-box your next project by picking a high-priority project and setting a firm deadline for completion that is shorter than normal. This will require you to change your thinking about time and start asking the question, "How do we manage this project so we can meet the deadline with a high-quality outcome?"

3. WHEN CHANGING YOUR CULTURE, YOU GET ONE POINT FOR EACH ACTION. A culture changes not because of one big meeting, but as the result of hundreds of small actions taken throughout the organization. Think of it this way: You get one point for each new behavior that represents the new culture. It takes many detailed actions to accumulate enough points to trigger real change in the culture.

4. LEAD MORE, MANAGE LESS IN A DOT-COM CULTURE. A dot-com culture has informal leaders at all levels throughout the organization. The formal leaders must set the direction, inspire, and empower those informal leaders to create a fast, innovative, e-business culture.

5. PICK CREDIBLE ROLE MODELS. One of the best tools for building a particular culture is to identify employees who are stellar examples of the cultural traits that you want to encourage (speed, risk taking, exemplary customer service, and so forth). Be sure to pick people who deserve to be honored and who employees respect. Mistakes in selection can lead to cynicism about the culture.

6. PROTECT THE DOT-COM TEAMS FROM THE CORPORATE IMMUNE SYSTEM. Traditional groups within the organization tend to be hostile toward new teams working on e-business projects. They can act as organizational immune systems, surrounding new ideas like white blood cells--killing the ideas before they can take hold. Hence, teams working on these projects need strong support to protect them in the early stages--until the rest of the staff gets on board.

7. INCREASE THE COLLECTIVE IQ OF YOUR COMPANY. Start holding your own version of After Action Reviews used by the U.S. Army. Bring people together to discuss team projects they've completed--and learn collectively from their mistakes as well as from their successes. Many cultures encourage employees to hide mistakes for fear of retribution, so you must foster rituals that change that message. The next time a team tries something new and it turns out to be a mistake, reward them for their initiative and have them share their stories so that everyone can learn from the experience.

8. ENHANCE YOUR COMPANY'S KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. If you want to improve your organization's methods for managing knowledge, start with a knowledge management assessment to determine your current status. This will help you spotlight areas of success and pinpoint gaps that need filling.

9. PLAN THE INTEGRATION OF YOUR PARALLEL CULTURES. If you are setting up an Internet division, for example, to do the early development work on your e-business, plan from the beginning for the group's eventual integration into the larger organization. Make sure everyone knows that this is a temporary structure and have a plan in place for how and when this group will merge with the larger organization.

10. CLARIFY EACH PARTY'S COMMITMENT LEVEL IN ALLIANCES. When you set up an alliance with another organization, make sure you both have the same understanding of the commitment level. If you think it's a full-blown partnership and your counterpart sees the alliance as a simple contractual relationship in which it is not obligated to do anything that is not spelled out, you may be headed for trouble.

Adapted with permission from Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000), by Peg C. Neuhauser, Ray Bender, and Kirk L. Stromberg.