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Achieving Sustainability Through Culture Change

Achieving Sustainability Through Culture Change. Dr. Christopher Payne Research Scientist June 15, 2011. What is Culture?. Shared system of values Values encoded in technologies and practices Organizational culture shapes employee decision-making

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Achieving Sustainability Through Culture Change

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  1. Achieving SustainabilityThrough Culture Change Dr. Christopher Payne Research Scientist June 15, 2011

  2. What is Culture? • Shared system of values • Values encoded in technologies and practices • Organizational culture shapes employee decision-making • Organizations also embed values in policies and business systems

  3. How Does Culture Change? • With difficulty…. • Strong leadership necessary to challenge existing culture • Integration with existing values easier, but sometimes not possible • Policies, processes, and technologies must change to support desired shift in values

  4. Leadership Must Pursue Change • It must be seen as allowable, even encouraged, to have the values and standards of practice challenged and altered. • Three areas of focus: • Rules • Roles • Tools

  5. Rules • Organizational policies must support desired culture change. These policies are operative at multiple levels: • Executive Orders • DOE Orders and Notices • Leadership attention and data collection • Individual employee training, standards of practice, etc.

  6. Roles • Every employee contributes to shared values • Not every employee contributes to specific outcomes • Explicit roles need to be defined at both the strategic and tactical levels to align DOE mission objectives with integration of sustainability • Give appropriate focus to players who have greatest impact

  7. Tools • Organizational culture is embedded in the way we work: • training (both explicit and received wisdom) • review systems, • business software, • even content of forms

  8. Culture Change Requires Coherence All of the previous issues: • Leadership • Rules • Roles • Tools must work in harmony to achieve lasting change

  9. Existing Values • DOE’s existing organizational culture has at least three elements that can support the incorporation of sustainability: • “Science and technology lie at the heart of our mission” • “We will treat our people as our greatest asset” • “We will succeed only through teamwork and continuous improvement”

  10. Existing Value: Science & Technology • What is the shared value of science? • The Scientific Method • Observation • Hypothesis • Experimentation • Analysis • Refinement of Theory Circular pattern of continuous improvement

  11. Existing Value: People • Safety Culture Improvement • Assess current state • Envision future state • Plan transition • Implement changes • Sustain & improve Circular pattern of continuous improvement

  12. Existing Value: Teamwork • Integration of individual action into shared outcome • “…continuous improvement.” Circular pattern of continuous improvement

  13. New Value: Sustainability • Sustainability shares this concept of a circular pattern of continuous improvement • ISO 14001: Plan – Do – Check - Act

  14. How to Operationalize • Set quantifiable targets with meaningful metrics • Engage staff in how to meet or exceed targets • Make public commitments to specific actions • Provide feedback on progress at meaningful levels • Consequences for performance • Continuously review “SOP” with eye to removing barriers

  15. Common Pitfalls • Siloed approach • No clear vision • Lack of information/feedback • Insufficient mechanisms for learning

  16. Conclusion • Culture is a powerful force. It helps define who we are. • Changing culture can be difficult. • Culture change is possible (and necessary) • The impact of creating new cultural norms can have a profound and lasting impact

  17. Hypothetical Exercise #1 • Think about your work group – the people with whom you interact on a daily basis. What one thing could you convince your group to try that would enhance DOE Sustainability?

  18. Hypothetical Exercise #2 • Think about the group of people in this room. You share common rules, roles, and tools within DOE. What one thing could this group do to change a rule, a role, or a tool to “bake in” sustainability?

  19. Hypothetical Exercise #3 • Exchange business cards with a person near you. On the card, commit to one action you will take to enhance sustainability. Share the results of that action with your colleague in one month.

  20. Questions & (perhaps) Answers Christopher Payne, Ph.D. Research Scientist / Leader, Washington DC Office Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 901 D Street, SW #950 Washington, DC 20024 (202) 488-2252 CTPayne@lbl.gov

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