Culture Essentials - The WHY Institute - Wendy Dickinson

Wendy Dickinson, Catalytic Conversation$

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Introduction:  Building Culture and Teams
Culture in any organization can be difficult to define, as well as communicate.  The issue of defining and explaining culture in a family business is even more complex.  At the same time, leaders in a family business have a responsibility to not only define and explain culture, but to also equip themselves and the next generation to lead through culture changes.  It’s complicated for the family and for those in the organization outside of the family, isn’t it?
 
At the same time, the WHY Institute believes that knowing the WHY of the company, it’s leaders and those who make up the organization is an important part of sustaining a family business for future generations.

Today I have a conversation with Dan Dominguez of the WHY Institute.  Dan shares his experiences in working with family businesses, and the individuals within those organizations, on discovering their WHY, their how and their what.  Each leads to greater clarity and ability to communicate the mission and vision to employees as well as ideal clients/customers.

SHOW OBJECTIVES: THE WHY
Strong Culture is linked to:

1. Happier Employees
2. Greater Productivity
3. Higher Employee Engagement
4. Higher Profits

Knowing the Why, the How, and the What of the company AND the people in an organization helps build a strong company culture.

KEY ISSUES: Problems You May Encounter:
In this segment Dan shares a story of a family business that gathered each generation of the family together to explore their WHY’s.  Once the assessments were complete, there was a shift in perspective.  Family members who viewed themselves as outside and apart from the family business, realized that there was a meaningful role to play after all.
Viewing a family member with a “Challenger” or a “Better Way” badge, shifts the family view of that person from the trouble maker to something  much more positive.

Assumptions, attitudes, and interpretations of others shift within the discovery of Why, How, and What.  Those on the leadership team are presented and explained by the WHY assessment using language that is affirming and productive.

Many family businesses have lost touch with the mission and purpose - the original Why - once the founder was no longer at the helm.  In some cases the Why needs to change in response to changes in the business model or in the marketplace.  The WHY Institute leads individuals and organizations through their process to determine the Why, the How and the What to re-engage with mission and vision, bringing greater clarity.

What You Need To Know - THE WHAT:
On an organizational level, the how and the what is an expression of WHY.  How and What are the operating systems of the company’s WHY.  To build a strong culture with highly engaged employees who are happy and bringing their best efforts to the organization every day, knowing the WHY is the first step in the process.

According to the PwC, 2019 Family Business Survey, over 50% of family businesses did NOT plan to pass the business on to the next generation.  One of the reasons was a lack of interest on the parts of the younger generation.  Dan and I wonder if a lack of clarity around Why - for the company and for the next generation, contributes to that statistic.

Companies and individuals can investigate the process of Why discovery by exploring the WHY Intstitute’s website: www.whyinstitute.com.

What You Need To Do - THE HOW

1. Discover the WHYOS of your company.  
2. Discover your WHY, how and what.  
3. Have your leadership team discover their WHYOS.
4. Create succession plans, business continuity plans and strategic plans using the WHY, how, and what of each key stakeholder.  Assign tasks to members of the team with WHYs that align with those tasks.
5. Use this information to review alignment in ideal customer focus, messaging and  branding.

Resources:

1. Dan Dominguez, The WHY Institute, contact Dan at dan@whyinstitute.com.
2. Work The Bugs Out: Practices To Work In, & On, Your Business, by Wendy Dickinson, Publish: TBD.  Excerpt: Free Downloadable PDFs to work through.
3. 2019 US Family Business Survey, PWC, January 2019.
4. 8 Reasons Why Organizational Culture is Important, indeed.com.
5. The Statistical Case for Company Culture, levelingup.com.

You can connect with Wendy Dickinson on FB, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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