Future-state culture
Start from the future
We bring imaginative and inspiring methods for articulating your future-state culture. Every organization is different - it's history, strategy, life cycle stage and competitive challenges, so we work with top leaders to create a vision of the future-state culture that addresses the culture shifts required to deliver mission in the future. Moving beyond passionate words, we develop a model of the future that identifies both what is needed and the risks of doing nothing.
Our methods are broad and deep. From approaches such as a Culture Safari where people bring their camera to work to capture images that represent the culture of today and tomorrow to more analytical approaches using the CSF Culture Cards, we engage groups in discovery to identify and define what is important for the future. Importantly, the outcome is a robust analytical model that is the basis for shared understanding, priority setting, risk management and measurement.
Client case
Our not-for-profit client had a well-developed strategy and plan and was working steadily forward in its execution however, external conditions suddenly created a need for a more agile organizational culture that could weather the tumultuous times ahead.
A one-day working session with twenty members of the Senior Leadership Council resulted in a description of the future-state culture and how it needed to be different from the current culture. A CSF Culture Card sort activity identified patterns of leader behavior and organizational practices that were high and low priority areas for attention. The Chocolate Factory simulation revealed current and desired future culture needs. The outcome of this meeting was a clear statement of what was important for the future-state culture given external change, as well as an analytical model of the future-state culture that would provide guidance to senior leaders about what was important to strengthen and maintain.
This built on the employee engagement work of the past but created a much broader frame of reference for cohesive senior leadership action to deal with new cultural capabilities needed given emerging external challenges.
Example of a Future-State Culture Model
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“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created--created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.” Author unknown
