Epilogue
SCENE: Mid-December. One of Intrepid’s retail stores. The store is bustling; it’s a weekday afternoon in the midst of the holiday season.
ALEX: Thanks so much for taking the time to come and walk through this store with me. I know that everybody’s lives are so busy, especially at this time of year.
SEBASTIAN: It’s my pleasure. The whole board has been so interested to hear about your efforts related to culture. I jumped at an invitation to see it in action.
ALEX: I told the manager, Jess, that we’d be here, and she’s excited to give us a walk-through of both the customer spot for the package removal and the improved recycling center in the back by the docks. She’s in a staff meeting until noon. [Checks his watch] We’re a little early: let’s get a feel for the store.
[Sebastian and Alex are speaking in low tones and are dressed casually in jeans and sport shirts. It’s clear that they don’t want the store employees to feel that they’re being “spied on” by management. They notice that a customer and an employee, an older woman and a young man, are embroiled in an intense conversation at the end of the aisle. The holiday music is loud, and their words are not discernible. The customer seems frustrated, but the employee’s face is calm; eventually, the woman’s face and posture mirror that of the employee, more relaxed and open. The employee is writing something down. Both smile, and they part ways. The employee heads toward the front of the store, in the direction of Sebastian and Alex. Alex stops him.]
ALEX: Hey there—I want to introduce myself. I’m Alex, the CEO of Intrepid. I don’t mean to embarrass you, but I came here today because I’ve been hearing from the management how well this store is doing and wanted to see it for myself. I just got lucky enough to watch you in action—you seemed to be solving a problem for that customer. What was going on?
DANIEL: [A little flustered] The CEO, seriously?
SEBASTIAN: [Kindly, putting out his hand] Yes, and he puts his pants on one leg at a time. I’m Sebastian, and your name is?
DANIEL: I’m Daniel—great to meet you both.
ALEX: So what was happening with that customer?
DANIEL: She wanted to return something she bought online without a receipt—said she has the box in the car but not the receipt that came with it. It’s against policy, but I told her that I’d see what I can do. She’s going to get what she has and meet me at the returns counter—I know the guys who work there, and I can talk to them. [Looking concerned, suddenly aware he’s talking to management] Does that sound right to you guys?
ALEX: She walked away happy—I think it sounds like you listened to her and are trying to work with her. When a process doesn’t work, we focus on how to make that process more flexible. And we respond to what the customers feel—that was clear to me, even from twenty feet away. You were well aware of what she was feeling, and it made a huge difference.
DANIEL: Thanks! That means a lot to hear. I should make sure I’m at returns when she gets there. It was great to meet you both. Thanks for saying hi. [Heads toward the front of the store]
SEBASTIAN: That was pretty impressive!
ALEX: [With pride] Yes, we have some great people. And the more I do this—come to the stores and local offices, walk the halls—the more I realize what a difference it can make. I just managed to talk about two of our critical behaviors, and it felt pretty natural. There’s real value in repetition and consistency, in conveying messages until you think you are going to run out of breath, and applying them to the context at hand. This is definitely something I’ve learned in the past year.
SEBASTIAN: So how have you made this work? To what do you credit all these changes?
ALEX: Well, personally, I am learning how to delegate more and to empower my team. I ran a very intense program on culture and behaviors for all of this year directly out of my office. I’m moving it over to human resources now to become a part of our overall people processes. The employee who led it, Calvin, will become my chief of staff.
SEBASTIAN: That’s great to hear.
ALEX: I’ve really come to see that a culture is operating effectively when everyone has the power to focus on themselves and asks what they can do to lead and that it all comes down to behaviors—repeated, consistent, clear behaviors. And those behaviors need to be motivated by the positive emotions that result. People need to feel good about doing what matters most. Now, I will put on overalls and clean up and pick up aisles if that’s what I’m asking my people to focus on. I more often play the role of a tiebreaker than a speaker. I am meeting with suppliers again, which I have missed, and I write a blog about it so that it’s visible to our employees. I respect my employees, understand them better, and feel like we’re on the same team. When I go to an area, I ask the people what they’ve done to cut costs, and we enjoy the conversation about it. Our focus is good.
SEBASTIAN: How did it work? Give me a sense of the process.
ALEX: First, we set up three groups of twelve to fifteen of our best motivators in selected parts of our business, which took about six weeks. Next, we expanded by setting up nine additional motivator groups of twelve to fifteen across each key business area, which took us another eight weeks. Third, we focused on encouraging existing groups to expand and new groups to form to engage more people across the organization. Each group member set up his or her own group of ten to twenty extended members, which took another four months. Now, in our final stage, we allow groups to expand or contract organically. Sure, we facilitate connections between different groups to share learning and insights and continue to support and energize. But the change has occurred, and I feel increasingly pleased about where this all seems to be heading.
Importantly, we can feel the difference. Although there are some measurable results, a lot of the results are not measurable. We started by leveraging positive emotions to define our best culture and ended with emotion sustaining the culture. People keep saying that they have never had such a good time at work, even though they are working harder. We are inspired by the challenges ahead, where once we were afraid.
SEBASTIAN: I’m on the board of another organization that is facing issues very similar to the ones that we were talking about here a year ago—an industry in decline, an organization where people were struggling to find the motivation to stay the course. What advice would you give to their CEO?
ALEX: My strongest lesson has been learning to consider Intrepid’s cultural situation with realism and pragmatism. I’m no longer obsessed with changing our culture. I see instead that most of it is beneath the surface, almost subliminal, the water we swim in, the air we breathe. And I look for ways to see its strength in action and to encourage the right behaviors by making people feel good about mastering those behaviors, as well as about the results they yield—just like I did now with Daniel. I notice when it’s working, more than obsessing about when it’s getting in the way. And I commit to shaping it over time, just like I do our strategic and operating priorities.
Culture is never all good or all bad. As long as we keep it a part of our focus, it will enable us to sustain our distinctiveness over time—whatever the future holds.