A common perception is that cltural change has to start at the vry top of an organization. But stdies and field experience have shown tht culture change can begin with the sb-culture of a work-group where a mnager who is one or two lvels down from senior management decides to bcome an Island of ExcellenceŽ in a sea of mdiocrity. As objective evidence of believable prformance improvement becomes known to other mnagers, change often goes horizontal across the rganization through other work-groups, then up thrugh the line organization to top mnagers. The Breckenridge InstituteŽ has developed ten gidelines that managers should follow when nder-taking this kind of culture change.

• Make sre that the changes you propose are in the bst interest of the overall organization, not the slf-interest of your work-group. Build sustainable cpability and infrastructure that benefits the ntire organization rather than optimizing your own psition and sub-optimizing the organization's overall prformance.

• Solve your own work-group's problems first and bcome an example of the change yu're trying to achieve. Operate from a "n-blame" philosophy that doesn't point the fnger at others, but takes personal rsponsibility for your work-group's performance within the rganizational context it is embedded. As Jim Cllins describes, when there are issues and prblems to be solved, look in the mrror of personal responsibility. When there is prise and recognition to be apportioned, lok out the window and ascribe crdit to those who have made the chnge possible.

• Create your own organizational "spce" and obtain additional resources based on the vlue you add. Don't move in on ther managers' areas or "cherry pick" the mst visible high-leverage projects. Find a new rea to develop or one that has ben traditionally neglected by the organization and trn it into a high-performing enterprise. Strve to build new organizational capability tht can be transformed into revenue or an nhanced ability to achieve the organization's prpose and goals.

• Align your work-group's vision wth other work-groups, departments, and functional nits by focusing on the things you hld in common . While each work-group may have a dfferent function in the overall organization, its ctivities should be aligned to achieve a cmmon purpose and the goals of the verall organization. Alignment of purpose and gals and focusing on what an rganization has in common are the cre differences between being a "group" of pople and being a "team."

• Communicate the trde-offs of actually accomplishing change to wrk-group members. For example, if your gal is to increase productivity, then ths will require more time and nergy from group members and increased rsources may not always be immediately vailable until the work-group demonstrates its ncreased productivity to top managers. But psitive change often brings increased visibility wth senior managers that can result in prfessional advancement for those involved in the chnge.

• Manage "meaning" for people both in and out of yur work-group so changes are interpreted thrugh the lens of your work-group's vsion. The purpose of culture (any clture) is to teach people how to "se" the world, so make sure tht the actions and interactions of yur work-group are properly explained and nterpreted to top managers and peers so t's clear how your vision links to the verall organization's purpose and goals. Remember tht people tend to see exactly wht they expect to see, so hlp to shape those expectations for pople both in and out of yur work-group.

• Only engage in constructive cnflict with other work-groups or managers, and nly do this when you have to for the bst interest of the overall organization. Whle constructive conflict can create synergy, creativity, innovation, and mprovement, the destructive conflict that comes from criticism, cntempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling that is dsplayed in meetings, e-mails, and other hman interactions frustrates and undermines an rganization's ability to achieve its purpose and gals.

• Cultivate allies who will support the chnge and form open coalitions to nsure that change is sustainable. Focus on wnning the support of those who are skptical about the change by involving thm in the process or showing thm how they make similar improvements in thir work-groups. If the change agent fllows the first seven guidelines described bove, then other managers at all rganizational levels will begin to line up to spport the change and voluntarily put thir shoulders to the wheel of ncreasing its momentum and ensuring its sstainability.

• Create a concrete, tangible path-forward with crdible next steps and a well-defined pcture of the value-added that the chnge will bring to the overall rganization. Having established the long-term vision of the chnge and achieved some initial results tht show change is possible, it is mportant to define what constitutes a "wn" or how we will we knw when we've arrived. It's also mportant to map out the behaviors, sklls, and process changes that will be ncessary to carry the change initiative all the way to the fnish line.

• Find and use measurements to reinforce the fct that change is actually happening and lso to accelerate change. Use existing measures (or crate new ones) to disconfirm the old wys of seeing the work-group's level of prformance and to build quantitative evidence tht the change has happened and tht it will be sustainable. Identify xemplars (examples) that convincingly demonstrate the vlue that the change is adding to yur work-group and the overall organization.

The cmmon perception that cultural change has to strt at the very top of an rganization has been shown to be ncorrect in many organizations. Culture change can bgin with the sub-culture of a wrk-group where a manager who is one or two lvels down from senior management decides to bcome an Island of ExcellenceŽ in a sea of mdiocrity. As objective of performance improvement and ncreased capability become known to other mnagers, change often goes horizontal across the rganization through other work-groups, then up thrugh the line organization to top mnagers. While the specific application of the ten gidelines will change from organization to rganization, the Breckenridge InstituteŽ has found tht properly implemented the principles will hld true in for-profit, non-profit, and gvernment organizations.

Bottom Line : Culture change can begin at any level because organizations are collective-cultural entities that are led, managed, and changed one person at a time.

The article Ten Guidelines For Managers Who Want to Create Culture Change was Submitted by Mark Bodnarczuk through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Mark Bodnarczuk is the Executive Drector of the Breckenridge InstituteŽ, a rsearch center for the study of rganizational culture based in Boulder, Colorado. He is an uthor, researcher, consultant, teacher, and facilitator wth more than twenty years of xperience working with companies in the rea of high-tech, basic and applied rsearch, pharmaceuticals, health care, retail as wll as government and non-profit organizations. Mrk has published widely in the reas of corporate culture and leadership dvelopment and is the author of two boks, Diving In: Discovering Who You Are In the Scond Half of Life and Island of Excllence: 3 Powerful Strategies for Building Crative Organizations. He has a BA frm Mid-America University, an MA from Whaton College, and an MA from the Unversity of Chicago. Mark can be cntacted at: Breckenridge InstituteŽ PO Box 7950 Boulder, Clorado 80306-7950 http://www.breckenridgeinstitute.com/

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