Culture can be tangible, if we start focusing on actual behaviors...
See, from talking with most leaders, the frustration is that culture change is often too abstract, slow, and hard to operationalize, but by embedding behavioral science, culture becomes:
-Behaviorally defined -Diagnosed through evidence -Testable -Measurable -Adaptable over time
After working on several recent projects with clients where we developed behavioral cultural assessments, behavioral leadership assessments and culture reinventions, I see more clearly how a behaviorally informed approach enhances or fill gaps from other approaches.
I am sharing this high level thought process for your company to see where it can benefit from this approach. In it, I mapped the great work of Edgar Schein who was a foundational researcher in organizational behavior.
Schein’s model is descriptive - identify challenges, artifacts, values, and assumptions, for me, Behavioral science extends this by systematically mapping:
-Which behaviors reflect those values -Which behaviors contradict them -What drives or inhibits those behaviors (capability, motivation, social norms, beliefs, incentives; environmental cues, etc....) -How patterns vary across subcultures
That translation, that adaptation is what makes culture actionable!
As with most work on behavior and culture you will need to adapt this, or add other theories and models to make sure they address your specific context and needs.
Below is the process:
1) Find the opportunity
Behaviorally informed
Strengthens this with sense-making and problem framing, ensuring the challenge is behaviorally precise and not framed as an abstract cultural issue.
2) Identify organizational artifacts
Behaviorally informed
Uses these to understand the system that shapes behavior, processes, incentives, defaults, social signals.
3) Identify organizational values
Behaviorally informed
Breaks those values into discrete, observable behaviors - this removes ambiguity
4) Compare values and artifacts
Behavioral informed
Creates a behavior-inclusive map of where values and daily behaviors diverge.
5) Identify underlying assumptions
Behaviorally informed
Analyzes cultural tensions
6) Repeat with different groups
Behaviorally informed
Identifies behavioral patterns across groups, enabling tailored interventions.
7) Evaluate whether assumptions help or hinder
Behaviorally informed
Builds a behavioral map from the tensions and maps barriers and enablers, using behavioral frameworks
8) Implement the change
Behaviorally informed
Develops evidence-based strategies, tests them, and iterates, using behavioral strategies, rapid experiments, measurement plans.
How are you assessing and evolving your organizational culture?