When my previous employer took over a game studio, there was initially little confidence among people in us as an acquiring party: what will change? People preferred to sit behind their screen and did not speak out. The designers still worked in a waterfall methodology, while scrum and agile started to become the standard. That situation literally needed air. We once did a boxing session with a small group of designers and it was a success. I saw that. There was more chatting afterwards. More than in a working day. People were more relaxed. So we started doing that every Wednesday. We did this outside, if the weather permitted. Slowly more game designers joined and more space was created, both literally and figuratively. They're still doing it 9.5 years later. Develop new functional habits. That is important in cultural change.
Lonneke Nouwens is one of the four directors of Frisse Blikken and a trusted advisor to many clients, including for culture change. Culture change requires a fresh perspective. New people bring that. “You can talk about change endlessly and that often happens in management and consultancy. There is often a lot of attention to the 'guiding coalition' and creating support, but the practice is much more difficult. After the first conversations, it is important to start doing things that create movement rightaway, such as a new boxing routine or hiring new people. You can talk about the benefits of agile and scrum, but when new game designers came in who mastered that, that's when it really started to work. You can simply make new agreements with new people. They are not surprised because it is different than it used to be. Gradually curiosity for other methods will grow. Frisse Blikken employs people who help our customers towards the 'new normal'. They help to change the momentum for cultural transformation.”
“Learning and development must become part of your culture.”
Now that the labor market is increasingly challenging, it has become more important to allow employees to grow. Development is no longer the preserve of the 'happy few', but belongs to everyone. And that means that learning and development must become part of your culture.
This is the case at Frisse Blikken. We work on entrepreneurship, on determining your own course, on challenge and development. Our people spend every day giving and receiving feedback, asking curious questions and not taking old routines for granted. At our lunch table, the conversation is often about 'what is your next step', 'what surprises you' and 'what are you going to do about it'. That is also what characterizes our people. These are people who want to do something. In this way we also get our customers moving.
“The starting point is always to build trust first”
Cultural change starts with something else, Lonneke realized in what she calls her most “fundamental learning when it comes to culture change”. She became interim director of an animal shelter. The previous director was suspended because he did not primarily have the interests of the shelter, the animals and the people who worked there in mind. “Now I was suddenly responsible for everything. All my decisions had an impact on how the shelter functioned. I started to just listen. There was shouting in the hallways, arguments about schedules and overtime, but they didn't say anything to me. I was isolated in a large office and I couldn't even see the hallway or the reception desk. And next to me in a small room that was much more central, volunteers were logging notes about the animals. The administration was done there and schedules were made. It was a tiny room. There was barely room for everyone. And I was sitting there in my big director's office.”
People didn't believe me at first when I suggested to swap offices. I said: you have more space and peace and I have a better overview. And then the personal stories came to the table: from employees for whom the schedule was vital for their home situation in connection with care or even their own safety. All I had to do was ask: What do you need? and…: how can I help you? When trust was restored, there was room to think about what we have in common, to build a mission and vision for the animal shelter. We brought a first version to the whole team and everyone was allowed to give their input. The new mission became: “Together, we make a temporary home for all animals in need”. That mission is still on the wall 10 years later. At the animal shelter it started with peace and space and thus creating trust. At the game studio it was the other way around: creating movement and thus trust. I always take a pragmatic view: what is needed here? I am a balance seeker: how do we get the system back into balance? What is it about? Are there too many or too few rules, too much or too little peace and focus: what is needed to thrive here?
“Touch people’s hearts”
After building connection and trust, and rest or movement, it is important to clarify the direction or strategy as well as to do concrete things for people. “In my experience, urgency is often misused to get people moving. People see through that. You have to be honest, not make up a story. Your job as a change agent is to find the burning desire and ignite it. In the animal shelter, the animals well-being is the burning desire. The legal subsidy for shelter and care stops for animals after six months. The fear is that animals will then be slaughtered. Fortunately, that did not happen at this animal shelter, but fundraising was under pressure. So, we boosted the fundraising and everyone understood why we were doing it. That touches people's hearts. Then they also understand that other financial matters need to be addressed to get business operations in order. In the summer it is busy in an animal shelter because of the holidays and in the winter people had nothing to do. Ultimately, after good discussions, everyone signed a flexible employment contract. Even the people who were previously shouting down the hall, arguing about the workday planning. So, you can't just get people on board through a conversation. You have to touch them in the heart. These experiences have also shaped me enormously as an advisor. If you take responsibility yourself and experience the consequences of your actions in the longer term, you will become gentler and more effective. By experiencing, doing and then talking together, the change accelerates and will be more sustainable.”
