DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE A CULTURE OF YES OR A CULTURE OF NO ?

DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE A CULTURE OF "YES" OR A CULTURE OF "NO" ?

One of the best predictors of corporate stagnation is what you can call a "culture of NO."

 The symptoms of a "culture of NO" are varied but are almost predictable.

• "No, we better not." Why should we take such a risk?”
• "No, that's not how we do things around here."
• "No, someone tried that back in 2005 and it failed."
• "No, you can't do that, you've got to get official clearance from the HOD."
• "Hey, who gave you the authority to do that?"
• "Hey, why fix it if it ain't broke? Don't mess with it."
• "Let our competitors make the mistakes first; we'll catch up later."
• "Don't rock the system if you want to get ahead around here."
• "Hey, that's not in your job profile."

I thought I had heard this all until recently, when a senior head of operations of one large, faltering company confessed to me that his company was a classic example of a "culture of NO."

How did he know? "Well – he said “We study a good idea until it becomes a bad idea."

You can literally smell a culture of NO in the companies that are enveloped in it.

People are working long hours, but there's certain stagnation, a passiveness, a grim routine, an absence of urgency, a lack of passion, a dearth of sheer joy.

Contrast that with the vibrancy, optimism, excitement (and growth!) in companies with a "culture of YES." There, the symptoms of a “culture of YES” are quite different:

• "Yes, let's try it!"
• "Yes, let's take the risk!"
• "Yes, let's launch a prototype/product/lets test it."
• "Yes, let's do it man!"

A culture of YES sends the message to every employee, "YES, if you're willing to take accountability for performance, if you're willing to do the due diligence, if you're willing to take the responsibility of putting together a project team and the research behind it, if you're willing to beg, borrow or bootleg funds, if you're willing to stand up for your ideals, then: Yeah! Go ahead! Go for it!"

Do you have a culture of YES or a culture of NO in your company? As I said, you can probably smell the answer, but if you need criteria that are more precise, then examine your company and simply ask how long it takes to:

• make an important decision?
• initiate and implement a change in work processes, information technology, customer service, after sale delivery, or supplier relations?
• start an experiment?
• launch a product?
• get to market?
• put together a team?
• get data and feedback?
• do follow-up on the data and feedback?

It doesn't matter whether you're a Rs. 2 Crore or a Rs. 200 Crore company, the answers to these questions will be an excellent predictor of whether you'll be able to attract and retain the most loyal customers, the most talented employees, and the most sympathetic investors.

So, does your company have a culture of YES or a culture of NO?