Thoughtful Culture-Building in a Fast-Paced, Agile World

Remember life before Siri and Alexa? How did we ever find out the answers to anything?! 😉

We live in an instant-gratification world. When we want an answer to something, we ask our smart devices or google it (and that’s even outdated now - we ChatGPT it…?) Not too many years ago, if you wanted an answer to something, you had to ask another human being. Or maybe look it up in a physical book. Or maybe, just maybe, be ok with not knowing the answer right away, or at all. That is unfathomable now. Technological advances in the past few decades alone have been nothing short of incredible, in both our personal or professional lives. Medical advances help us live longer and cure more diseases. We can video chat with a friend or colleague on the other side of the world. We can even pay for things with our watches! 

Is it all a good thing, though? As a society, we’ve trained ourselves that faster equals better. In today's whirlwind business world where change is the only constant, agility isn't just a trendy term—it's a must-have. Agile methodologies have revolutionized how we work, enabling us to pivot on a dime and stay ahead of the curve. Amidst all this hustle and bustle, we’re also trying to cultivate connected, inclusive cultures, which takes thoughtfulness, intention, and a healthy dose of patience. Sounds a little like a paradox, right? How can we be thoughtful, patient, and fast - all at the same time? It can be done, and no, there isn’t an app for it.

Setting The Foundation

In Agile, you work in 2-week sprints. Spit out code, fail, fix, learn, iterate, repeat. (I’m drastically oversimplifying, I know.) I’d argue that this is a great recipe for almost any initiative, technology-driven or not. 

Culture is defined as being “a shared set of values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and practices that characterize a group of people.” In this fast-paced, instant gratification, data-driven world, I hate to break it to you, but culture is intricately connected to, influenced by, and an influencer of, human emotion. Which by nature means it’s complicated, at times messy, and there’s no single formula. Building culture is all about relationships and trust; as we do this in our companies, we can absolutely adopt the agile method in how we implement initiatives, but it looks a little different. Culture, just like relationships and trust, is both fragile and resilient. We can beta-test initiatives and iterate as we go, but we have to be thoughtful.

It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint

(Agile pun intended.) 

Thoughtful culture building takes time, and great cultures do not happen overnight. Anytime you are taking steps to improve the culture around you, the first and MOST critical step is listening. Whether you’re a leader joining a new organization, you are coming out of a tough time and need to turn things around (think pandemics, layoffs, etc.), or maybe your company is about to embark on a growth journey into a new market, a new geography, or hiring lots of wonderful, complicated humans, it all starts with listening. In HR, we call this a “listening tour” and it requires real-life interactions with people, not only surveys and AI-powered data analysis. (To be fair, those are extremely valuable ways to collect sentiment data and information, but they are supplements of the live discussions.)

Think about a time when someone - a manager, colleague, mentor, friend - sat down with you and asked what’s on your mind. They listened in a way that showed they truly cared about the answer you were giving, and about you as a person. And then they asked follow-up questions to dig into the heart of the issue(s), and brainstormed solutions with you. This is the kind of listening I’m talking about that’s required to build great cultures. It takes time, energy, and a skill set that needs to be learned and honed. Depending on the size of the organization, this can be done in small groups, 1:1’s, (supplemented by surveys,) and can take weeks or months. It is time extremely well spent. Not only do you come away with a treasure trove of information about what’s really going on, but you’ve deposited an enormous amount into the “trust bank” that will serve you and the culture for years.

So now what?

Here are some of the elements I believe are critical to building great cultures, and how they can be broken down into bite-sized chunks to be implemented in both an agile AND thoughtful way.

Creating A Safe Space For All 

Have you ever sat in a meeting where you wanted to speak up but held back for fear of sounding dumb? Yeah, me too. That's why psychological safety is so important, especially in agile environments where experimentation and risk-taking are par for the course. When people feel safe to share their thoughts, take risks, and make mistakes without getting their heads bitten off, magic happens. Leaders, it’s up to you to set the tone. Call out that it’s hard to speak up, and lead with empathy and vulnerability - when you share first, others will follow. You’re creating a space where people feel safe to be themselves and take risks without fear of ridicule, and that’s the seed that makes a culture thrive.

Building Bridges, Not Walls

In Agile, teamwork makes the dream work! (Cliche and cheesy, but you can’t deny that it’s true!) That means tearing down silos and bringing people together from different departments, teams, and backgrounds to tackle challenges as one unified group. When you’re building culture, put down the org chart, and start with the specific problem that needs to be solved. Creating cross-functional teams or “pods” not only brings diverse perspectives to an issue, but it also fosters a culture of collaboration, which is key to success in the agile world, and companies in general.

Keep The Feedback Flowing

In the fast-paced world of agile, feedback is like oxygen—it's essential for survival. Thoughtful culture building means creating a culture of feedback where communication flows freely and openly. Formalized review programs are good, but they only truly work when people are great at giving feedback during the day to day course of business. That means regular check-ins between managers and team members, peer-to-peer feedback sessions, and in-the-moment feedback, both praise and criticism. Read Radical Candor by Kim Scott for stellar feedback training.)

Cheers To Wins, AND Failures

We are human, and therefore, imperfect. And we shouldn’t be striving for perfection; it's about making progress. That means celebrating wins, big and small, and giving kudos to the people behind the great work. And celebrate failure! It is a gift and a teacher, and it makes us better. By embracing failure as a natural part of the learning process and reframing it as an opportunity for growth, we can foster a culture of experimentation, resilience, and continuous improvement. And remember, as leaders, it’s our responsibility to set the tone. Don’t berate your people for making mistakes. Make it a learning opportunity - let them know that it’s ok, as long as they learn from it.

Agile, thoughtful culture building can be done - it just takes time. If you’re looking to build, turn around, or scale up your company’s culture, start by listening, and then pick one of these areas to focus on. Leaders who genuinely understand that culture is based on relationships and trust will give you the space, the patience, and the support to pace yourself and do it right because culture is a long game, not a quick win. To paraphrase the words of Simon Sinek from his book, “Infinite Game,” there is no “winner” of culture. We are playing in an infinite game, where there is no defined winner or loser; the objective is to perpetuate the game. And if we can successfully build and sustain a culture that’s safe, inclusive, collaborative, and inspired, doesn’t that sound like a winning strategy? I certainly think so.

Keep rockin',

Casey