The culture of a company manifests itself in the “dos and don’ts of everyday interaction”, writes Peter Fischer.
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Dusseldorf Christian Sewing did it. Ola Källenius too. And Herbert Diess anyway. They have all announced a cultural change in their companies – and at times met with great resistance. But what does that even mean, cultural change? And what exactly should be changed?
At this point, many managers are in danger of failing. Because what cannot be completely defined cannot be completely turned inside out – that much is clear. Often, however, a cultural change is announced far too quickly, says management consultant and author Peter Fischer. Many managers did not realize the complexity of this undertaking. “A cultural change not only usually takes a long time. It is also difficult to address, ”writes Fischer.
The author is the founder and partner of the Hamburg-based management consultancy Fischer Group International. With this he has been supporting medium-sized and large corporations in their transformation processes for more than 20 years. His book is supposed to “bring the experiences and knowledge gained during this time into a manageable form for management practice”, as he writes in the foreword.
This project was a success, that much can be said after reading the book. Because the “Guide for Top Managers” promised by the book’s subtitle is exactly that: a clearly structured and individually adaptable guideline for successful cultural change, starting from the top of the company.
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First of all, Fischer explains why the culture in many companies has to change in times of globalization, climate change and artificial intelligence.
Peter Fischer: Corporate culture as a future factor. A guide for top managers.
Redline Publishing House
Munich 2021
224 pages
24.99 Euroo
Only then does he fill the title-giving term of the book, which in managerial terms often degenerates into a freely interpretable empty formula, with meaning: Corporate culture, according to Fischer, means “nothing more and nothing less than the sum of the mostly unspoken habits and self-image that a group of What sets people apart in a company. ”It manifests itself in the rules and norms that control the behavior of employees, the“ Dos and Don’ts of everyday interaction ”.
If you want to change it, you first have to answer a few key questions for yourself and your company. They relate to the strategic importance of change, its leaps and bounds, and its estimated effort, as well as the skills of managers – and their readiness – for personal change. “We live in a time in which top managers hardly have any problems, only challenges and are reluctant to deal with what is not possible,” writes the author. But: Only if the right conditions are met can a cultural change succeed at all.
Fischer breaks down the actual change process into seven building blocks, each of which he dedicates a whole chapter: description of goals, alignment at the top, mobilization, control, orientation, learning and termination. It is crucial that the building blocks are flexible and not a clearly defined sequence of individual steps.
The culture of a company is “something created together that is constantly in motion”. That is why a change in culture has to be constantly readjusted – and cannot be dictated from above as easily as some top management would like. For many managers, Peter Fischer recognizes that none of this is easy.
Corporate culture has two functions, writes Fischer: On the one hand, it regulates relationships within the company as well as between the company and customers or interest groups. On the other hand, it creates identity and gives the individual self-confidence and security. “The specific culture of a company gives its employees a home,” writes Fischer. This factor is all too often underestimated.
The fact that managers omit a careful analysis of the initial situation in the company before prematurely announcing a change therefore creates more skepticism and mistrust than optimism and optimism. In his book, Peter Fischer shows how things can be done better.
More: Four tips for managers: How cultural change can succeed