CREATING A CULTURE IS CRITICAL

Early in my writing, I was concerned that I would exhaust my store of material. It need not have been a worry. Readers often send me thoughts to share. This is one such post. It draws on the experience of those who have created culture in an organization.

Every group has a culture, even if its people don’t acknowledge it. Thus, if a leader wants a culture, he must act to created it. Equally important the leader must deal with a bad culture or a clash of cultures.

Coach Matt Doherty relates principles to succeed in basketball and broadens them to include business:

To create a culture, the leader must have a clear vision of what he wants his team to achieve. Sharing this vision will:

Act as a "guiding star" that steers workers toward long-term goals and prevents distraction from short-term trends.

Inspire and Motivate - When people understand how their work contributes to the big picture, they are more motivated. A shared sense of direction boosts morale.

Align and Clarify - Help set clear objectives, define roles, and establish performance. It ensures that people efficiently work toward a common goal.

Sustain Success – A clearly communicated vision lays the foundation for long-term success.

Once others understand and sign on to this vision, a culture begins to form. People are aware of what they are working toward and what they must all do to get there.

The goal may be to win a sports championship or build a profitable business. However, a previous post brought a response from a man I met at Battle Creek Ranch in Montana, Paul Gump, a retired Army Major. Paul is a friend of a wrangler at Battle Creek. “Gunny” Larry Carlson a retired Marine. Gunny has helped me be a cowboy on my annual visit to Battle Creek since 2007. I admire both men. They stand for the best of what our military is about – dedication and sacrifice to protect us all.

Like most people who lack extensive military training, it never occurred to me that a successful military must have a strong culture. That culture is not about winning a championship or making a financial return. It is about completing a mission and staying alive. It can’t get more serious than that. Paul Gump emailed me:

From someone who has spent a life (in the military) such as I, Situational Awareness is a key tool in survival and longevity. We often refer to it as "SA". You will hear military people say things like, "For your SA"... etc... I have thought long and hard about situational awareness over the years. I have instructed Cadets in ROTC, new unit members in an Army Special Missions Unit, and now military professionals from across the DoD.

"SA" isn't enough. To be aware is one thing but knowing what to do with awareness is something different altogether. It boils down to Situational Understanding. As a “breacher,” I am aware there is a door on my target house, but understanding the door's construction, where the hinges are, what kind of lock is present, etc., allows me to understand how to attack the door so I may go in and deal with the threat and recover whatever needs recovering.   

I imagine the same holds true for investing. As we in the military home in on "Target Indicators", "Indications and Warnings", "External Inputs", and "Operational Variables" to help us understand our environment better, the same must hold true for "Trends", "Market Values", "Political and Social Impacts." One must be more than aware of these influences, but rather one must be able to "read the tea leaves", "read the room" and understand how they impact future actions. 

We often "war game" potential actions through the model of "Action, Reaction, Counteraction". Basically an "If, And, Then" paradigm. It works amazingly well and enables better understanding and ability to forecast 2nd and 3rd order of effects of our actions. 

What a great perspective on Situational Awareness! What Paul describes takes on real meaning when one thinks that lack of SA and SU can result in immediate death. Most civilians never think of that. Major Gump reaches beyond the “SA” concepts of Seeing and Hearing. He points out that the military must go a step further and translate what they see and hear to immediate understanding if they are to survive.

Paul’s example of entering a doorway is something we do dozens of times every day; but in a village in Afghanistan, that act takes on real significance. Let us be thankful that we have such men and women who will open those doors so that we don’t have to. Theirs is a culture of service and sacrifice.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”   Attributed to George Orwell

We should never take these “rough men (and women)” for granted.