How Eric Schmidt Changed the Culture inside Google

As we know, a company's culture defined how it performs. Often in our courses like How to Be a Better Manager (details at here), people often asked if an organization's culture can be changed.  Some companies like Google have a culture of innovation, whereas others have a culture of following the leader.  Is one better than the other?

If you think that your existing culture is no good, it's time to change.  There are 5 steps to change an organization's culture as detailed in the best-selling book "How Google Works" by Eric Schmidt:

1. First, recognize the problem.  What is the culture that defines the company today, not the one that is described in the mission and value statements. In other words, the real culture that people live in day by day.
2. Second, what problem has this culture caused the business?  Draw a connection between the culture and the problem, but do not criticise the culture. For any criticism will only alienate people. 
3. Third, let people know the seriousness of the problem and its inherent culture.  Let people feel the pain in their existing culture.  
4. Then articulate a new culture you envision, write the future by taking specific steps to start moving that way.  
5. Share the new culture, get buy-in and challenges to the new culture.  Only when the new culture is understood will people start to believe in it, and when they do, that's when their behaviour will change. 

Remember, changing a culture takes time, and most importantly, patience and compassion.  Only when the culture change can you see behaviour changed.  Related articles:

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