Leading Workplace Change™

As you might expect, I am interested in news articles that work to explain through insider and expert interviews the reasons for the success and failure of an organization.  At some point in the articles, there are usually cryptic lines about the need for a “change in culture” or “kudos to a cultural strength.”  These lines are many times used as short-hand to describe underlying reasons for the organization’s success, failure or what needs to be done for future revival. 

One recent article in the New York Times chronicling Citigroup’s drastic decline ended with an intriguing statement about what will be required of Citigroup if it wants to succeed as a bank subject to regulatory control.

Safe and soundness has to be no less important than growth and profits….

This combination of characteristics surprised me.  I riffled through my culture data base to find an organization that had safeness/soundness and growth/profits in their combination of cultural drivers for success.  My first instinct was that the drivers were opposites and impossible to balance.  

I kept on looking and finally out of hundreds of companies in our data base, found a couple of companies with this combination of cultural values – they were large and venerable utility companies, leaders in a regulated industry.  Their focus on growth was to achieve greater operational efficiencies for customers and shareholders – safety was tied to technical innovation to ensure the health of employees and the public.  And soundness related to financial and budgetary practices to ensure profitability and a fair return to shareholders.

Of course, it makes sense to find culture best practice examples for the new Citigroup in the utility industry that has gone through its own journey through de-regulation and back.  We are beginning as a society to think again of our banks as part of a national and now a global financial system.  It is good to know that balancing “safe & soundness” with “growth & profits” is possible and a proven recipe for success in industries subject to regulatory control.

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