“Every
organization needs at least one thermostat. These are the leaders who
can create change in response to the outside world, and do it
consistently over time.” Seth Godin1
Change causes one of two responses. Depending on how you deal with it you’re either a thermometer or a thermostat.
That means that you, as a Dentrepreneur®?, either accept change or create change.
Too simplistic?
I’ll explain…
Thermometers
reveal the shifts or changes in the environment. These devices give you
the facts related to the current temperature surrounding you.
You can benefit from people like this in your organization. And on occasion you must deploy thermometer-like leadership and management to check the pulse of your team and organization.
But
merely assessing reality and acknowledging it verbally or otherwise
doesn’t create the KNOW, GROW, SCALE culture that dentrepreneurship
demands.
You must evolve!
Thermostats, on
the other hand, manage and change the environment. As a device they have
the unique ability to synch the inside environment with the outside
environment.
The results: comfort and consistency.
Not comfort as in lazy or inactive and not consistent as in unchanging.
Rather an environment that has flex and flow.
As
a Dentrepreneur®? you have the ability to scale your organizational
culture to the extent that you create “thermostat-ic” values throughout.
TWEET THIS
That
means you’re ever evolving (not for evolution’s sake) but for the sheer
joy of reading your culture and responding appropriately and
strategically - for GROWTH!
“Thermostat-ic” Changes That Create a More Scalable Dentrepreneurial Culture
Increase “urgency” throughout your culture
Start
by relinquishing a bit of control. Might sound counter-intuitive given
the role of a “thermostat,” but there’s a way to give up a certain type
of “control.”
Perhaps a better word is “allow.” For example, allow
things to happen - financial shifts, exposed weaknesses and
vulnerabilities, competition, and other errors in judgement or action.
What will happen?
You’ll reduce the excess. You’ll get leaner and more responsive.
You’ll measure more important metrics. You’ll engage more honestly and openly with team members.
You’ll respond (more urgently) rather than merely defining reality and settling for status quo.
Instill a transformational mindset into your culture
Ambition gets a bad rap on occasion. Focused ambition (the brand not driven by self-centeredness) is a catalyst for change.
How?
It upsets cultural norms. It questions unproductive routines.
It
creates drive toward best-practice instead of merely getting by. It
spots trends and asks whether a slight, adaptive shift could increase
production, etc.
It refuses to exploit. Instead, it rallies cooperation around shared (scalable) values.
Install new approaches into your culture
This implies that you must be patient with the change (transformation) process. Start with more collaboration and less command-and-control.
Your
dentrepreneurial culture adapts more effectively when you create change
around shared team experiences more than top-down control. TWEET THIS
Give the new approaches “time” to work. A thermostat is adjusted but the change in temperature occurs incrementally.
Open
your dialogue around the changes you’re making. Team meetings, morning
“huddles,” and one-on-one chats are vital to cultural buy-in and
scalable shifts.
Fear no change. Only fear the unwillingness and inflexibility to do so.
As
a dentrepreneur®?, you have a choice: you’re either a “thermometer”
(status-quo) or you’re a “thermostat” (scalable, transformational).
I think I know where you land. Am I right?
Want more KNOW, GROW, SCALE strategies? Ready to embrace or move through a season of change but feel unprepared?
Contact us and join our team of like-minded dental “change-agents.”
Source: Tribes - We Need You to Lead Us, p102