Strategic Culture Hacks: A Framework for Shaping Corporate Culture 3662668262, 9783662668269

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Josef Herget

Strategic Culture Hacks

A Framework for Shaping Corporate Culture

Strategic Culture Hacks

Josef Herget

Strategic Culture Hacks A Framework for Shaping Corporate Culture

Josef Herget Vienna, Austria

ISBN 978-3-662-66826-9 ISBN 978-3-662-66827-6  (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin, Germany

Preface

Hacks are “in”. Whether bio hacks, life hacks, body hacks, software or computer hacks—the search for speed, shortcuts, tips and tricks and also unorthodox tricks for quick success is more popular than ever. Now the “hacks” have also reached companies and management, in addition to work hacks, more and more Culture Hacks are coming into the focus of executives. And rightly so! They not only correspond to the current requirements for agility and the current learning and implementation desires of modern generations. Culture Hacks embody the experience that has already proven itself condensed in numerous life and work situations. Nevertheless, they cannot and should not simply be copied and used immediately, because in practice they can also fail and leave undesirable collateral damage. That is why a deeper engagement with this modern management tool is recommended. Culture Hacks are targeted irritations that aim to break patterns of previous habits and routines. They therefore address the mindset and behaviour of specific individuals, groups or even entire organisations directly. However, this already gets “tricky” for many people. Can one simply use social techniques in order to influence thinking and behaviour in one’s “own” sense? The answer here is clearly yes, one can and if it serves the greater good—on the condition that it is done in a ethically responsible way and that others are not reduced to mere manipulated objects. Organisations such as companies are not purposeless constructs, they are founded with a goal and a mission and pursue these in their daily actions—or at least they should try to. They should attract people who are willing to work on this common task together. The existing and desired corporate culture defines this shared life and work sphere as a space of opportunity, it sets entrepreneurial values and rewards behaviours that contribute to the shared success. The goal should therefore be to keep the common whole in focus and to promote everything that is beneficial to this shared success—the common interest therefore takes precedence over the individual interest within the company. Culture Hacks can play a significant role in this context as part of culture shaping processes. This book is not another work that reveals helpful tips and tricks for the new world of work in an enumerative way. There are already numerous other publications and relevant internet sources for this. This book offers above all a theoretical framework in order to V

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Preface

not try these methods anecdotally, that is, more randomly, but to integrate them systematically into corporate, organisational and personnel development. And it is very practical. This framework is based on the model of corporate culture developed by the author. For the first time, this concept is comprehensively introduced, reasoned and transferred into systematic actionable knowledge in this book. The book therefore has a strong praxeological component. The theoretical explanation is not at the center—it rather wants to provide tools with which the actual business reality can be optimized. It is therefore primarily aimed at managers who understand corporate culture as something that can be actively shaped within their area of responsibility and that can be specifically influenced to improve corporate success. This book is specifically dedicated to the aspect of Culture Hacks, which have already been embedded in a comprehensive, systematic approach in another book by the author with the same publisher (Shaping Corporate Culture. Systematic approach to sustainable corporate success). This concept of Culture Hacks is expanded here in order to prepare it even better for the requirements of practice. It can also be used without prior knowledge of the basic work if the reader is only interested in this particular topic. The most important basics necessary for understanding are briefly explained in this book. I wish you much success in applying hopefully many new insights im Sommer 2020 Josef Herget www.excellence-institute.at

Contents

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Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Culture Hacks—Their Meaning and Role in Shaping Corporate Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Typology of Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.2.1 Strategy-Oriented Culture Hacks: Mindset and Behavior. . . . . . 5 1.2.2 Decision Architecture-Oriented Culture Hacks: Nudging. . . . . . 6 1.2.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks: Methods, Formats and Tips & Tricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.3 Dimensions of Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.3.1 Psychological Dimension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.3.2 Social Dimension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.3.3 Organisational Dimension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.4 Irritation—Intervention—Pattern Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.5 Culture Hacks—Concrete Effects and Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.6 Culture Hacks as Guerrilla Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1.7 Culture Hacks as a Permanent Compass—A Perspective View . . . . . . . 16 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.1 What are The Drivers of Culture Hacks?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2.2 For Which Organizations are Culture Hacks Suitable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2.3 How Do Culture Hacks Get into the Company?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.4 Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.4.1 Strategically Oriented Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2.4.2 Nudging-Oriented Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 2.4.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 2.4.4 Evaluation of the Respective Manifestations of Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?. . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3.1 When Should Culture Hacks be Used?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 3.2 Diagnosis: Evaluating Potential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 3.3 Strategy: Identify Candidates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3.4 Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 3.5 Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 3.5.1 Organizational Maturity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 3.5.2 Personal Maturity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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Preparing Culture Hacks for Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 4.1 Qualification and Competence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.1.1 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 4.1.2 Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.2 Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.2.1 Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.2.2 Methods and Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

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Successful Implementation—How Culture Hacks Come into the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 5.1 The Dose Creates the Effect!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 5.2 Systematics—From Puzzle to Mosaic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 5.3 Manage the System, Not the People—Hack the System, Not the People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 5.4 Determine The Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 5.5 From Individual Hacks to Team Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 5.6 From Empowerment to Encouragement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 5.7 Where to Start—And Then What?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 5.8 Designing Dramaturgy and Blueprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

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Inventory of Culture Hacks—Some Further Ideas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 6.1 Strategy-Oriented Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 6.2 Nudging-Oriented Culture Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 6.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

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Dynamic Design of Culture Hack Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 7.1 Basic Strategies for Implementing Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 7.1.1 Generic Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 7.1.2 Process Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 7.1.3 Point Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 7.1.4 Strategy Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

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7.2 Designing Cultural Hack Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 8

Evaluation and Optimization—How Do Culture Hacks Work? . . . . . . . . . 97 8.1 Evaluate the Entire Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 8.2 Essential Evaluation Steps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 8.2.1 Collect and Evaluate Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 8.2.2 Systematically Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 8.2.3 Better Culture Hacks Through Qualification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 8.2.4 Integration into Employee Goals and -Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . 101 8.3 Optimization of the Use of Culture Hacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 8.3.1 Corporate Culture Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 8.3.2 Structures and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 8.3.3 Integration in Cultural Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 8.3.4 Steer the Process With a Culture-Hacks-Canvas. . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

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Avoiding Mistakes—Mastering Challenges. Guidelines for Sustainable Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 9.1 No Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 9.2 No Systematics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 9.3 Inadequate Competence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 9.4 Trying To Do Too Much. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 9.5 Not demanding enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 9.6 Proceeding Too Quickly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 9.7 Strengthening the Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 9.8 Emphasize Appreciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 9.9 Avoid Cynicism and Sarcasm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 9.10 Overburdening the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

10 Culture Hacks as Instruments for Personnel and Organizational Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 10.1 Personal Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 10.2 Team Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 10.3 Organizational Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 10.4 Creating a Methodological Laboratory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 10.5 Live Entrepreneurship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 10.6 Fill Values With Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 10.7 Let it be Human in the Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 10.8 Live Corporate Culture—Implement Agility Through Hacks. . . . . . . . . 123 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Epilog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

1

Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification

Abstract

Culture Hacks are increasingly becoming an important tool for shaping corporate culture. They serve above all to perceive and become aware of, to reflect and reinforce culturally appropriate behavior. Culture Hacks can be used as strategy-oriented interventions wherever an incongruence between the desired mindset and the desired behavior can be found. On the other hand, they are increasingly used as part of socalled nudging, that is, a subtle influence on individual and collective decision-making behavior. Finally, however, they can also be used as stimulating impulses through new formats or methods to achieve a certain, desired behavior or result. In this chapter, the concept of Culture Hacks is embedded in the entire culture strategy process and the importance is worked out. The different manifestations of Culture Hacks are discussed, their dimensions in psychological, social and organizational terms clarified. Explanations of the importance of irritations for pattern breaks follow. Culture Hacks as a guerilla strategy for changing corporate culture are also discussed. The various effects of Culture Hacks and their role in the entire culture change process are finally illuminated in this chapter.

What are Culture Hacks?

For a few years now, the term “hacks” has been used in connection with various concepts, e.g. computer hacks, life hacks, body hacks, and many other areas of application. This refers primarily to efforts to find an unusual solution to a problem, to increase performance in a creative way, or to reach new solutions through experimentation. So it’s a kind of elaborate “tips and tricks”. The term is increasingly being

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_1

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1  Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification

used in the context of the discussion on corporate culture. A Culture Hack is an intervention that focuses on the mindset with the aim of influencing the current or future actions. The goal is to achieve a congruence between the desired corporate culture and the actual behavior.

 Culture Hacks are personal and organizational interventions that, through an impulse to change the mindset or behavior, actively promote a desired corporate culture. Culture Hacks therefore aim to reflect a behavior, pattern, or intended action, respectively to initiate a reflection process and thus to question whether the behavior or action shown or intended is congruent with the desired one. They are used whenever a discrepancy becomes apparent or different action and behavior options exist. The use of culture hacks usually appears unplanned and spontaneous. The employees are often “surprised” by a culture hack, whereby they can—like in a mirror—recognize the old patterns of thinking and behavior and question their adequacy. First, however, the culture hacks should be considered in a broader context, in a framework of the cultural design process. The model presented in the next section is well suited for this purpose. An alternative approach, namely culture hacks as a guerilla strategy, will also be discussed later.

1.1 Culture Hacks—Their Meaning and Role in Shaping Corporate Culture Designing corporate culture is a complex undertaking. If this process is understood as a strategic task, it includes several phases and numerous different project sections that build on each other. The entire cultural design process is summarized schematically in Fig. 1.1. The process of cultural design is derived from the company’s goals and strategies, develops an individual model of the relevant cultural factors, evaluates these for their current manifestation and future significance, interprets the results, transfers them into a strategic planning process, implements the designed strategy in selected projects and finally implements it in concrete process flows. The entire process is then evaluated in detail and comprehensively. This is a continuous process that is carried out regularly (see Herget 2023 for details). Culture Hacks are therefore an element in the context of these comprehensive cultural design processes. In this context, they play a particularly connecting role between the strategic and operational implementation of culture change projects. On the other hand, they are increasingly being used in the context of so-called nudging. This is a systematic process of subtly influencing individual or collective decision-

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1.1  Culture Hacks—Their Meaning and Role in Shaping Corporate Culture

Corporate culture process Model Cultural Factors

Corporate Culture Audit & Evaluaon

Strategy & Tools

Roadmap & Project-Mgmt

Implementaon & Process-Management

Corporate strategy

Evaluaon

Integrate selected methods into processes

Fig. 1.1   The cultural design process (Herget 2023)

making behavior. These “nudges” are also integrated as culture-enhancing measures into this consideration. Finally, Culture Hacks can and will be used independently of systematic culture change projects on a point-by-point basis to stimulate and animate desired behavior. These numerous methods and new formats are also embedded in a planned process of cultural change. 

Culture Hacks are considered in three dimensions: • as the connecting element between culture strategy and operational implementation (strategy-oriented Culture Hacks) • as so-called Nudging, a subtle change in the decision architecture and • as new methods and formats that encourage changed behavior.

The use of Culture Hacks at different levels of cultural work can be comprehensively represented by the integrated architecture model of corporate culture (Herget 2023). The model consists of three different levels that need to be addressed. At first glance, these levels appear to be relatively independent of each other, but if you want to achieve the highest possible effect in sustainable cultural change, they should be considered integrated—because only in combination do they develop their full potential. They also condition each other, with the upper levels determining the framework for the following. The orientation of the culture shaping and change initiatives to the architecture model prevents these implementation ideas from remaining on the strategic level or being lost in unrelated individual initiatives. In Fig. 1.2 the model is introduced with its three levels and summarized in its essential statements and effects.

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1  Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification

We distinguish three levels here: the first level, called the strategic level here, identifies the totality and the individual elements of the desired corporate culture. The view is holistic, encompassing the entire company. The second level we call the operational or action level, in which specific measures to shape corporate culture are taken incrementally, partially or as a whole. This level transfers the individual target specifications from the strategic level into daily practice. It therefore takes into account processes, framework conditions, structures and evaluation systems. 

The third level is referred to as the point level. It includes the concept of culture hacks, whose task is to focus the workday again and again on its conformity with the goals of corporate culture, to check and, if necessary, to intervene corrective. It serves the reflection and adaptation of the lived corporate culture.

These three levels should always be thought together and only their interaction brings the maximum benefit.

1.2 Typology of Culture Hacks This book is based on a quite broad understanding of culture hacks. A total of three different types are considered, which differ significantly from each other, both in terms of the conditions of use, the construction and the actual use. What they all have in common, however, is their design and change potential for corporate culture. This justifies considering their potential for cultural work in general, as their use can be quite comple-

Focus

Level

Approach

Prerequisite

Methods

Vision, Mission, Values, Whole company

Strategically holisc, total

Mindset

Shared values and understanding

Mission and values; audit; strategy

Selected processes/ Operaonal areas of cultural incremental, paral change

Behavior

Direct approach in the area of responsibility

Processes of culture change KPI, OKR

Mindset Behavior Emoon

Clarity about desired behaviour; courage; maturity of the organisaon

Culture-Hacks

Everyday life, Immediate behaviour

Reflecon selecvely

Fig. 1.2   The architecture model for cultural design (based on Herget 2023)

Success tendency

Wirkung

slow

quick

Immediately

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1.2  Typology of Culture Hacks

mentary. They are also never in contradiction to each other, their respective—also combined—use is therefore always to be decided situationally. The different foci and the culture hacks considered here are shown in Fig. 1.3. The three basic orientations of culture hacks considered here will be considered in more detail below.

1.2.1 Strategy-Oriented Culture Hacks: Mindset and Behavior As shown in the above model, the strategic conception of Culture Hacks connects these with real, operational behavior and thus enables an immediate reflection with consistent behavioral adaptation. This inherent permanent comparison of the desired mindset (as a result of the conception of the desired corporate culture) and the behavior (implementation in operational action) provides the space and central starting point for the Culture Hacks. The strategy-oriented Culture Hacks require the greatest amount of work in advance while at the same time having the shortest intervention time. Based on the companyspecific culture model, the most important and prioritized cultural factors are then operationalized in terms of which actions and behaviors their respective implementation can be read off. In other words: How can one tell that the concrete cultural factors are being lived or, in other words, which behavior contradicts the ideas of how the cultural factors should be implemented? Through this to be developed sensitivity, the focus of these Cul-

Culture Hacks

Strategy-oriented

Nudging-oriented

Irritang intervenon to ensure strategycompliant behaviour (congruence of mindset and behaviour) - Trust - Collaboraon - Customer orientaon - ...

Decision architecture based Incenve seng for the animaon/ smulaon of desired behaviour - Health - Creavity - Loyalty - ...

Goal: Achievement of target culture

Goal: Raonal opmizaon

Fig. 1.3   Typology of Culture Hacks

Arfact-induced

Methods/Tools/ Instruments - Hackathon - Week of Learning - Mood check - ...

Objecve: Creavity/ Innovaon

Formats - Fuck Up Nights - Open Space - World Cafe - ...

Goal: Collaboraon

ps & tricks Selecve/ anecdotal intervenons - Personal Map - How-to - ....

Goal: Transformaon/ Out-of-the-Box Thinking

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1  Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification

ture Hacks becomes apparent. The construction of these Culture Hacks with numerous examples will be presented in detail later.

1.2.2 Decision Architecture-Oriented Culture Hacks: Nudging We summarize the second category of Culture Hacks under the concept of Nudging. This concept has been enjoying high popularity for some years and goes back to the book “Nudge. How to encourage smart decisions” by the authors Thaler and Sunstein (2008) in the first edition from 2008. The behavioral economics, in the framework of which the concept is discussed and developed, assumes that people are only limitedly rational beings by nature and do not always act reasonably. The image of the homo oeconomicus, that is, the man always oriented towards his own maximization of utility, is given up. The research of various cognitive traps or distortions (biases) led to the development of approaches that make it easier to make better decisions on one’s own without having to be patronized. What are the cognitive biases? The following five different limitations in rational decision-making can be identified in particular (Burmester 2016; Galandi et al. 2020): • Fear of loss (the loss of something weighs twice as heavily as its gain) • Tendency to status quo (holding on to what has been chosen) • Short-term advantage (avoiding short-term disadvantages, even though they bring long-term advantages) • Excessive optimism (overestimating one’s own abilities) • Conformity (adapting to the behavior of others). Nudges mainly work by influencing their context, which is referred to as decision architecture. Classic examples come from the health sector (sports, body weight, healthy nutrition, …), organ donor behavior (opt-out or opt-in variants) and from the insurance sector (pension provision, company-sponsored insurance contracts). However, nudging-oriented culture hacks do not always directly intervene in the conscious decision architecture, they are often simply incentives or “nudges” to evoke a certain behavior. The fly in the men’s urinal, for example, is well known to lead to significantly reduced cleaning costs. A small animation that triggers the play instinct can have significant effects. Another application are the presets that are made in digital systems (example: newsletter subscription is already clicked during the ordering process). This approach focuses on the behavior of people (and groups of people) and “gently” influences their context through a corresponding design. It is precisely this potentially manipulative character of the approach that requires a responsible handling in companies in order to promote a desired behavior. Despite a possible ethical dilemma, this approach (also referred to as “libertarian paternalism”) is not only used in politics and health care,

1.2  Typology of Culture Hacks

7

but increasingly also in companies to optimize individual and collective decision-making. The goal is a supposedly more rational behavior. In contrast to the other two categories of Culture Hacks, these measures do not appear to be surprising, but they do have an effect: the current behavior is to be influenced by the presented decision architecture in the direction of the desired mindset.

1.2.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks: Methods, Formats and Tips & Tricks This category includes those culture hacks that can be described as a methodological toolkit and “tips and tricks”. These are hints, advice, experiences, recommendations, instructions and much more. This can also include formats in which collaboration can be supported by certain configurations or hints on methods, instruments and tools that lead to a systematic and structured process. These culture hacks usually require no great requirements and conditions—at least in comparison to the two previously discussed categories. They can also be used independently of a formulated or pursued culture strategy, although clear ideas about a desired corporate culture are of course very helpful and supportive. The more planned and targeted these culture hacks are used, the better. Depending on the perspective, there may be some overlap with the nudging-oriented culture hacks in this category. For example, stand-up meetings could reasonably be considered under both categories. These culture hacks can have their effect in the following different forms: • Methods/tools/instruments: The way something is organized, coordinated or simply done has an immediate impact on the process and the result. Examples are, for example, Kanban as a project planning method. The experiences show that the planning is more transparent, the meetings more efficient and the projects more effective and also faster overall. • Formats: Different formats for completing tasks and solving problems or as an event format for exchanging experiences can lead to previously unattainable quality. Two examples: The so-called Fuck-up-Nights, i.e. formats that are used to refer to failed projects, offer insights into new, previously rather unknown emotional situations of colleagues and corresponding reaction patterns. Experiences of others from difficult situations, which were previously not worn to the outside in our culture of bravery, are now being discussed in front of a large audience. This not only creates an exchange of experiences with the opportunity to get to know and discuss different resilience strategies, but also creates a new familiarity and connection in the community, which can contribute to a much more positive working atmosphere. Such formats can also be organized internally. Another example are the Open Spaces, a form of moderation and work in large groups, which is based on certain rules (voluntariness, interest in the topic, openness

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1  Culture Hacks—Basics and Classification

to participation, hierarchical freedom to the greatest possible extent …). The experiences show that the meetings are more comprehensive, more creative and the employees are more involved. Such and other formats (World Cafe etc.) lead to other results due to the new form of personal involvement and the changed interaction possibilities than the traditional forms of participation and participation. • Tips & Tricks: As the last different category, one can consider the so-called tips and tricks. We include all measures that can be understood as point-like and anecdotal interventions. In these, experience in approaches that have proven themselves in practice and that are passed on in the form of “How-to …” are condensed. These can be, for example, checklists that have to be worked through or suggestions to make other problem considerations. Here there is a large number of possible artifacts that have proven themselves in certain environments and that are mainly passed on as experience. For example, this also includes the results that arise from the work of mentoring and coaching. The target direction of the use of these three different types of Culture Hacks can also be viewed differently. Certainly not exhaustive, but as a starting point, it can be differentiated in: • Strengthening creativity and innovation • Strengthening collaboration and trust • Enabling transformation or out-of-the-box thinking. In Chap. 6, numerous other possibilities and examples of Culture Hacks are listed and discussed.

1.3 Dimensions of Culture Hacks The following looks at the effects of Culture Hacks on the individual, the team and the whole organization.

1.3.1 Psychological Dimension Culture Hacks come unexpectedly and represent a break in pattern for the individual. Previous habits with almost automatically running routines no longer work. A recourse to previously reliable thoughts and actions appears impossible. The resulting irritation can initially leave a vacuum that is quickly filled: flight, fight or paralysis are the millennia-old reaction patterns that set in immediately with modern man. Here it is necessary to make an offer, to offer a way out of the current dilemma. The provoked and created delta is to be closed with the desired orientation. These created breaks in order to achieve

1.4  Irritation—Intervention—Pattern Break

9

a desired way of thinking and behaving are based on the (hopefully) accepted consensus of the desired corporate culture with its guidelines for individual action. Culture Hacks therefore immediately lead to personal reflection processes that enable targeted individual learning and expand the repertoire of thoughts and behaviours. This may sound manipulative to some, but if we assume that the desired corporate culture is justified by good arguments and also accepted in the organization, then it is functional in the business context and leads to the positive development of the organism company. This therefore also applies—so the hypothesis—to the individual’s growth in the organization.

1.3.2 Social Dimension Culture Hacks are used primarily in social contexts. They address the social interaction beyond the individual, as it is documented in communication, cooperation and collaboration. They therefore often concern dimensions of dealing with each other, such as trust, respect, appreciation, recognition, creativity and support. Deliberately used culture hacks thus also irritate the usual interaction patterns here and create a delta between the currently practised and desired or intended behaviour. Also in the group, sometimes even amplified by group dynamics, reflection processes take place and they contrast the behaviour pattern shown with the desired one. The possible group reflections behave similarly to the individual behaviour reactions described in the last section. Here too, the “offer” of the desired reaction option should trigger a learning process towards the desired corporate culture.

1.3.3 Organisational Dimension Any irritation of a subsystem affects the entire system. Intentional interference with a part system has an effect on the other system units. Also—and especially—organisations often have clear processes, structures, guidelines and rules. All too often, however, these are not aligned with a desired new corporate culture—insofar as culture hacks also have an immediate effect on the entire organisation when the above-mentioned constitutive conditions are “disturbed”. These irritations can and should then lead to new regulations and align the organisation more culture-appropriate.

1.4 Irritation—Intervention—Pattern Break How do people perceive what affects their thinking and behaviour? The human brain strives for congruence, that is, for agreement between previously learned and new patterns, so it tries to integrate new information within the framework of the already “learned” patterns. This is the most energy-saving measure and it is therefore preferred

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by the brain. Now culture hacks have the task of breaking the familiar patterns and structures. The goal is therefore to create pattern breaks—in order to enable or at least initiate new structures. This is done through irritations, new information can no longer be brought into agreement with the known patterns, thus learning and personal development are possible. How do you create such irritations that they are noticed and cannot simply be ignored? The greater the irritation, the higher its potential to form a changed or even new pattern. So the use of culture hacks is not about using minimal interventions, but possibly “amplifying” them so that they can have their intended effect. Of course, a sensitive approach is necessary here, the effect on the addressee must be anticipated, it must always be weighed up situationally. An intervention should not only disturb and leave the addressee disoriented, but always be connectable, it should show why processing in the context of the applied patterns is no longer feasible in the current and future system. This will often lead to defensive reactions. Now a great advantage comes into play through strategic culture hacks. Their use has a target, namely to promote the strategy-compliant mindset and behaviour. The evoked irritations are therefore always also associated with an offer, they do not leave the addressee of the culture hacks in the dark about where the journey is going. Because this could certainly happen with randomly used culture hacks, if they first lead to overload and in the following with a panic and its possible consequences of paralysis, flight or fight. So it’s not about provoking a fight (“fight”), resignation (“flight”) or helpless disorientation (“paralysis”). The different types of culture hacks basically have a different potential for irritation. In Fig. 1.4 a portfolio is shown with the axes irritation potential and cultural design potential, which allows a more approximate classification. 

We first note Culture Hacks lead the recipient, i.e. the addressee or receiver, through their disturbing effect to an initial pattern break of the previously established routines of thinking (mindset) or acting (behavior or practices). This deliberately caused irritation leads—in a successful case—first to the perception and the realization that the just practiced behavior—which has led to the use of the culture hack—does not correspond to the desired one in terms of the system (i.e. the organization). A strategy-conform culture hack requires that the desired culture is known, but the current thinking and/or behavior does not yet correspond to this (anymore). This is usually due to the fact that • due to the lack of routines, the desired behavior is not available at the moment, • it was forgotten or • simply the previous routines and habits have prevailed.

1.4  Irritation—Intervention—Pattern Break

11

Cultural potenal Strategy-oriented Culture Hacks

high

Arfact induced culture hacks

medium Nudging-oriented culture hacks low

low

medium

high

Irritaon potenal

Abb. 1.4   Irritation potential of the different types of culture hacks



Culture Hacks are therefore impulses to align the concrete thinking or behavior in a strategy-conform manner.

Excursus: Irritation Strategies—Do not Imagine a Pink Elephant!

How is an irritation caused? We have already mentioned it, an irritation (from the Latin irritare: to irritate, to excite, to break) occurs when the usually available cognitive pattern no longer fits as a process for classifying and processing information and mental processes. Irritations are therefore disturbances of habits. The common forms of systematically and consciously causing an irritation originate mainly from psychotherapy. Some of the forms relevant to our purpose are, for example: • Paradoxical Intervention as a general term includes, in addition to the paradoxical intention, also the reinterpretation and the reactance. This term was coined mainly by Paul Watzlawick (Watzlawick et al. 1969). • Paradoxical intentions go back to Viktor Frankl, who formulated them as early as 1939 as part of his logotherapy (2005). Their core is—to put it simply—to deliberately bring about an undesired state in order to thus mainly to meet the so-called vicious circle of fear through humor. The classic examples are blushing, stuttering or nervousness (instruction: “Blush as much as possible”). Watzlawick classifies the paradoxical intention as a symptom prescription.

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• Reinterpretation or reframing denotes the conscious change of the interpretation of a context, which includes conceptual, but also emotional assumptions. This can have both a positive and a negative effect. For example, the positive is considered in the negative: “We have now paid a good price” instead of “that was now an expensive mistake”. • Reactance is another method that is attributed to the paradoxical intervention. This refers to a reaction caused by restrictions, which manifests itself as resistance or another defense reaction. It is mainly exerted as psychological pressure and makes the values and attitudes of those affected visible. It is mainly used in the field of work and sales psychology (artificial scarcity of supply, creation of time pressure, etc.). Example: “The discount of 25% is only valid until today 12.00 a.m..” • Provocative therapy goes back to Frank Farrely, who developed this method in the 1960s of the last century (Farrelly and Brandsma 1986; Höfer 2011). Its core is to take a new perspective on the underlying phenomenon through provocative formulations. The behavior considered problematic is humorously persiflaged so that the employee himself recognizes his behavior and can laugh about it. A greater mental distance and freedom allows a fundamental reflection of the underlying behavior. Example: “If we produce more waste, we will create a new record”.

The use of these techniques adapted for Culture Hacks is taken up again in Sect. 6.1.

1.5 Culture Hacks—Concrete Effects and Goals After the Culture Hacks have been discussed in terms of their importance, embedding and specific role in cultural change projects with their respective manifestations, their character is to be explored in more depth. What is their core, what do Culture Hacks actually achieve? A Culture Hack is characterized by the following six features (Gartner 2018, p. 15; Herget 2023, p. 116), the individual meaning of which of course depends strongly on the respective type of Culture Hack:

• It is emotional, the participants leave their comfort zone, which can be quite unpleasant at the moment. • It is usually used immediately and directly after an incident, without any time delay. • For the participants, the underlying problem is visible and tangible, the occasion is always concrete.

1.5  Culture Hacks—Concrete Effects and Goals

13

• Its use requires a high degree of courage from the user. • Its use is often associated with little effort. • It is constructive in intention, even though this may not be immediately apparent to the affected parties.



The prerequisite for the effective use of Culture Hacks is a clear knowledge of the desired values, goals or strategies. Their use serves as a kind of “reminder” to reflect on the shown behavior with regard to the congruence with these expected and known values, goals and strategies. This prevents the development or maintenance of routines that are no longer (adequate).

At the beginning, mainly managers and supervisors will use this method, later it is desirable that Culture Hacks are also used by colleagues among themselves in meetings or in cooperation when they encounter inadequate behavior. However, this requires an already mature and developed corporate culture so that this behavior is not perceived as uncooperative or cooperation-limiting. Culture Hacks can even be particularly effective when used by employees against a manager. However, only a few employees will succeed in bringing this courage to their superiors. If all parties involved are primarily committed to the well-being of the company and always want to contribute their personal performance better, Culture Hacks are an excellent corrective and instrument for strengthening learning processes. The use and effect of Culture Hacks in organizations can therefore take place in these directions, as shown in Fig. 1.5. Goals of Culture Hacks Culture Hacks have the following three concrete goals: • Awareness and recognition of the discrepancy between the (desired) mindset (= target corporate culture) and real behavior and action (= actual corporate culture) • Reflection on the discrepancy between mindset and behavior with an analysis of the causes of the discrepancy • Action to restore congruence (adjustment of behavior). These goals should therefore always be action-oriented. They are conscious measures taken by the company, which primarily address the psychological and social dimension of employees in order to increase cooperation and value creation and better involve the potential of employees in achieving the overall objectives of the organization. With this consideration, they become powerful management tools. However, they should always be used within the framework of ethical responsibility and not be used manipulatively to the detriment of employees.

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Top-Down

Peer-to-Peer

Boom-Up

Fig. 1.5   Effect of Culture Hacks in industrial use

The productive and effective use of Culture Hacks in practice therefore requires: • The knowledge of how Culture Hacks can be constructed. • The feeling and clarity for situations in which Culture Hacks can contribute to the further development of corporate culture. • The positive sanctioning, i.e. rewarding of the courage of employees who use Culture Hacks. • The good knowledge of the values, goals and strategies in the company among employees. • The joint reflection on the result of this intervention, a kind of lessons learned from this intervention for future behavior.



Culture Hacks are an effective tool for shaping a desired corporate culture. However, their character as irritants can have powerful effects on employees in their feelings and experiences, which always needs to be considered. Without good preparation, they should therefore only be used in their simple form. They are targeted irritations, intend to trigger pattern breaks and should be applied competently and in a dosed manner. Of course, there are numerous culture hacks that can be used without any risk, with no possible collateral damage, which is particularly true for artifact-induced culture hacks.

1.6  Culture Hacks as Guerrilla Strategy

15

1.6 Culture Hacks as Guerrilla Strategy Culture Hacks of course do not only imply a systematic top-down approach, as is at the center of this book. Culture Hacks can also mean conscious disruptions of the system, because they are also associated with the conspiratorial, unorthodox, anarchic, pathbreaking action. Someone who does not use Culture Hacks as an official element of the culture strategy can use it consciously as a covert measure to change the corporate culture, a kind of guerrilla strategy or tactic. So not an official strategy, but one that comes from the “underground”. When is This Approach Appropriate? Whenever you are passionately interested in a change in corporate culture and in your current position either do not have the power to shape corporate culture, that is, neither have the responsibilities nor the competence, or the formal process seems too cumbersome to you. Likewise, this strategy can be used if the official values and the lived corporate culture differ from the actual one, but the management does not show any active interest in addressing this specifically. But this warning should be expressly made at this point: behaviour that is contrary to culture is always associated with high risks, a existing culture, represented by the system organisation, can “spit out” troublemakers very quickly. So you need a good self-confidence, a high resilience—and if possible good professional alternatives! The good news is: you can use the entire range of instruments presented here as a cultural warrior, because the better prepared you are for this fight against the previous mindset and practised behaviour and practices, the higher the chances of success will be. Relatively easy, all concepts from the artifact-induced culture hacks can be proposed, respectively used in one’s own area of responsibility. Likewise, many of the nudgingoriented culture hacks can be proposed. However, it becomes tricky when it comes to the strategy-oriented culture hacks, because they have to be applied primarily to colleagues or even to managers. But precisely these culture hacks have the high potential to change the corporate culture—and thus the entire system—quickly. The two former types are relatively risk-free, but they can also lead to the goal, but then more slowly. A long breath is then required. 

Culture Hacks can also be used as part of a guerrilla strategy. The instruments are basically the same, but without the backing of an official corporate policy. As a rule, the culture hacks are used on the levels bottom-up or peer-to-peer, which then requires particularly much courage. However, the professional risk for the user can be high.

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1.7 Culture Hacks as a Permanent Compass—A Perspective View Culture Hacks—The Link Between Mindset and Behavior As already briefly outlined in the architectural model for corporate culture, it is the small impulses that establish a connection between behavior and mindset. They are indispensable nudges (“stitches”) to keep the desired corporate culture alive and to repeatedly check the specific behavior against it. Their importance for the development of a sustainable corporate culture cannot be overemphasized. In this way, culture hacks create the link between the communicated corporate culture and the entrepreneurial practice lived in everyday life. They are necessary interventions that, under certain circumstances, interrupt emerging routines at the outset and raise awareness of the desired behavior. They serve directly for reflection in a specific task context and have an immense learning effect. A full development of the effect of culture hacks requires clarity about the desired corporate culture (first level of the model) and an operational implementation in the daily processes (second level). If used in isolation, culture hacks can also work, but they may then appear arbitrary, especially if the connection to the desired corporate culture is not clear. Culture hacks represent the third level of the corporate culture model. Their individual characteristics (see Fig. 1.2) will be elaborated in more detail in the following. With this, we aim for a systematic consideration and classification. How can one, in the context of partly long-standing organizations, which may have gradually creeping routines of the past, resist, how can one keep the awareness of constant culture work alive, how can one implement a compass that permanently shows whether one is still on the right track? This important function in the third level of the architectural model is entrusted to these culture hacks. A “spontaneous” intervention is understood as a culture hack, which brings the current behavior into relation to the desired one in order to detect divergences and thus trigger a reflection. This creates the possibility to check both the mindset and the behavior and, if necessary, to adapt them. So are culture hacks the impulse and the “reminder” that ensures that cultural work remains a constant process in awareness, that provides a meta-feedback in the sense of “is the current behavior appropriate and goal-oriented”? In this level, all managers are particularly challenged. Because they have to develop the right culture hacks, without a corresponding sensitization and targeted training this will usually not succeed without further ado. But a well-developed corporate culture is also visible in that culture hacks are used by employees in team work, or also in individual work. They are a powerful tool in the coordination between mindset and behavior. They make sure that a congruence is maintained.

1.7  Culture Hacks as a Permanent Compass—A Perspective View

17

Focus: Everyday Life A new corporate culture has to be lived every day, it should become the new habit, if it is to have a lasting effect. Nevertheless, the tenacity, the relapse into old patterns and habits is omnipresent. After all, in part, behavior that has been lived for years has to be changed, which can not be accomplished immediately on call or prescription. The human being is a creature of habit, as the saying goes, so he needs more time to learn a new behavior or to unlearn existing ones. These learning and behavioral processes are not trivial, they need certain trigger points to come back to consciousness again and again, a kind of reminder that lets you check whether you are also acting in the new paradigm. Culture hacks are best suited for this. Level: Reflection Culture hacks immediately and spontaneously question their own behavior, or that of teams. It is checked whether the practiced behavior corresponds to the norm intention, that is the desired corporate culture. This sets in motion reflections that check whether the attitude is in line with the mindset and the behavior is congruent. They are mainly used by managers when they suspect a behavior deviating from the desired behavior. So you “catch” the employees in a situation in which they deviate from the intended corporate culture. Through the awareness of the deviating behavior, the attitude is reflected, the learning process can be sharpened. Culture hacks are usually used point-by-point. Culture hacks usually do not represent an independent strategy, they are rather used within the framework of a culture strategy. Approach: Mindset The Culture Hacks address the respective mindset. Is the current action in line with the desired premises? The respective context should always be clear and unambiguous: the immediate behavior is currently being questioned, it is an immediate feedback on a behavior shown, without any time delays. The learning effect is immediate, through the immediate reflection triggered, the opportunity arises to question and adjust one’s own behavior. The behavior shown is the occasion, but the thinking and attitude are addressed, the recourse to the behavior becomes self-evident. Culture Hacks therefore have an immediate effect on the mindset and only then in consequence on the behavior. Prerequisite: Clarity and Courage Culture Hacks do not work in diffuse, ambiguous situations. First of all, it must be clear which thinking and which attitude are required to act in a congruent manner. There should be clarity about the desired culture and the corresponding behavior of the employees. The individual characteristics of the desired corporate culture, whether high innovation, pronounced collaboration, courage and initiative, customer orientation and so on should be anchored in consciousness and carried along. Only then do Culture Hacks work when the current behavior is confrontationally and immediately questioned: is it, to stay with the above examples, innovative, collaborative, brave and customer-oriented?

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On the other hand, the use of Culture Hacks requires courage on the part of those who use them. These are mainly the leaders at least in the initial stage. They must have the courage to also create initially certainly irritating and thus unpleasant situations, they should be able to endure the “catching” of the employees. In constructive work environments, such interventions will be productive, but these environments often have to be created first. Leaders will have to learn to construct, use and feedback Culture Hacks in the same way in order to get rid of their fear of using them. Nevertheless, some courage will be required to make them a habit and to use them frequently and effectively at least in the initial phase of the cultural change process. Methods: Culture Hacks Culture Hacks are a method that initially causes irritation. Culture Hacks question the just practiced behavior and put it into context with the desired corporate culture. Culture Hacks are suitable for use in almost all areas of the company. Everywhere where discrepancies arise between the adopted corporate culture and the actual practiced behavior, they have their effect. Irritating methods have been successfully used in many areas of psychotherapy for a long time. Trends Culture Hacks are—if used thoughtfully and consistently—an excellent feedback tool. They immediately show whether the behavior exercised corresponds to the set goals. They serve immediately for reflection and thus offer the opportunity to initiate or sharpen learning processes. Used in a constructive climate, they work immediately and help to internalize the new, desired corporate culture immediately and sustainably anchor it in an organization. Their effect is high—provided they are used wisely and the corporate culture already allows such immediate interventions. Effect The great advantage of Culture Hacks is their much faster effect through the often spontaneous use. The addressed topic is immediately reflected, one’s own or team behavior can be checked immediately and the intended consequences result almost of their own accord, without great need for interpretation by the management or the employees who implement them. Culture Hacks work immediately—that makes them an important instrument in the architecture of cultural work.

References Burmester H (2016) Stupser für die innovative Organisation. Mit Nudging Organisationen bewegen. OrganisationsEntwicklung 1:59–65 Farrelly F, Brandsma J (1986) Provokative Therapie. Springer, Heidelberg Frankl V (2005) Ärztliche Seelsorge. Grundlagen der Logotherapie und Existenzanalyse. Deuticke Zsolnay, Leipzig

References

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Galandi N et al (2020) Einfach gute Entscheidungen treffen. Erkenntnisse der Neurowissenschaft verstehen und aktiv einsetzen. Rethinking Finance 1:51–57 Gartner (2018) Culture in action. The role of leaders in making culture perform. https://www. gartner.com/en/executive-guidance/culture.html. Zugegriffen am 18.11.2019 Herget J (2023) Shaping corporate culture. For sustainable business success. Springer, Berlin Höfer N (2011) Glauben Sie ja nicht, wer Sie sind! Grundlagen und Fallbeispiele des Provokativen Stils. Carl-Auer, Heidelberg Thaler RH, Sunstein CR (2008) Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press, New Haven Watzlawick P, Beawin JH, Jackson DD (1969) Menschliche Kommunikation. Formen, Störungen, Paradoxien. Huber, Bern

2

Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

Abstract

Culture Hacks are increasingly finding wider dissemination and use in business practice. They can be successful anywhere, they are independent of the size of the company, industry, life cycle or the professionalization level of the company. Of course, these factors do, however, exert a strong influence on their introduction processes and also on their acceptance. The drivers of the increasing dissemination of Culture Hacks in business practice are primarily the agile movement with the concept of “Management 3.0”, “New Work” and other, especially also technologically induced developments. Finally, this chapter also deals with the question of how Culture Hacks can come into the company. Individual Culture Hacks are already being used in many companies—even without calling them that. A possible comprehensive, strategic and systematic approach is presented in this book and can thus contribute to its dissemination in business practice. Finally, the different types of Culture Hacks are considered, their requirements and use are to be viewed quite differently. Likewise, their immediate effect and the effects caused on the organization can differ significantly in their respective dynamics. Some examples of the respective type of Culture Hacks illustrate these differences. Culture Hacks offer great potential for companies, regardless of size or industry. First, we look at the emergence of Culture Hacks, how they came about and what promotes their spread in practice. Various developments can be sketched that have contributed to their popularity, design and spread and will continue to do so—we are only at the very beginning of a systematic use of Culture Hacks to promote a desired corporate culture. It becomes clear that the Culture Hacks discussed here originate from different developments and sources: on the one hand from the strategic orientation towards certain culture factors, then from the concept of nudging derived from behavioral economics and © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_2

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finally from the artifact-induced approach. The latter comprises a variety of methods, instruments and formats that follow a modern management understanding that primarily focuses on agility, digitalization and self-regulation.

2.1 What are The Drivers of Culture Hacks? First of all, it should be noted that of course concepts like the ones we now call Culture Hacks have always been used in practice. So the phenomenon is not that new. However, this was usually done more by chance and individually, initiated by certain employees or managers and not driven by the idea of systematically influencing and shaping the corporate culture in the desired direction as a result. This comprehensive approach in the consistent orientation pursued here can definitely be described as new. Of course, the corporate culture has also been influenced by sporadic use in the past, but rather mosaiclike, isolated and not connected with the paradigm and framework that the entire organization should be controlled using these management instruments. Discussions on this topic have intensified in theory and practice for about a decade. The following drivers of development are identified and briefly outlined below:

• • • • • • • • • •

Agile Management 3.0 New Work Democratization and self-steering of companies Corporate culture as a success factor Start-up culture Generation Y and Z 360° Feedback concepts Lean management Behavioral economics Technological push.

We consider agile development, as it first emerged from the field of software development, to be one of the most important drivers. Agile software development has considered numerous paradigms in programming of the last 50 years, such as the “waterfall model”, increasingly inadequate, to respond to the modern fast-paced, complex, uncertain and rapidly changing world. Agile methods, sometimes also referred to as lean methods (Rose 2019), such as Scrum, Kanban and working with personas, were developed primarily to achieve results faster and not to present the end product in the form of software only when the world has already changed with its new requirements. The Dutchman Jurgen Appelo has tried to define these principles from the field of software development as general new management principles in his book “Management 3.0” (2011).

2.1  What are The Drivers of Culture Hacks?

23

This was the beginning of an avalanche of new considerations and developments that established this concept as a new mindset, how successful management should work in dynamic and accelerated times. Several more works by Appelo (2012, 2016, 2019) followed and he developed a worldwide community that long ago left the boundaries of the community of software developers, its own continuing education, certifications and a lively exchange. Many of the Culture Hacks originate from this paradigm of the Management 3.0 movement. Another driver stems from the discussion of “New Work” as firstly established by Frithjof Bergmann (2017). Complemented especially by the increasing digitalization in economy and society, in companies, but also of individual workplaces, the way of communication, interaction and collaboration has been changed fundamentally. Especially the very widespread experience of working from home during the Corona crisis brought the topic of virtual and digital corporate culture (Herget 2021) into the spotlight and also some new inspirations could be derived from it. Some of the Culture Hacks result from this direction. Numerous examples can be found, for example, in the book by Schnell and Schnell (2019). Further new considerations result from new management concepts as, for example, postulated by the further democratization of companies, leadership and the increasingly self-steering organization. Frederic Laloux (2014) contributed immensely to the popularity of these ideas with his book “Reinventing Organizations”. Rigid hierarchical principles are being questioned, for example, elected leadership for a certain period of time is seen as an opportunity to distribute competencies anew and project-adequately. Also this concept, which emphasizes a strong empowerment of the individual and of teams, sets impulses and prepares the ground to take on Culture Hacks in organizations. The great prominence of the topic corporate culture as probably the most important factor of successful companies for several years now led to a heightened engagement with new models and methods of shaping corporate culture (Herget and Strobl 2017; Herget 2023). Also here, digitalization acts as a significant factor calling for adequate concepts of a corporate culture promoting digital transformation. Also this focus on topic corporate culture as an important success factor leads to the development of new models and tools which have found their way into the discussion as Culture Hacks. Likewise, the topic of start-up culture, which has been in the spotlight for a long time now, has led to a more profound engagement with concepts which can promote rapidly growing companies. The search for organizational tools to ensure speed, smooth collaboration, customer proximity and direct, short communication has led to some ideas here. Lean start-up (Ries 2012) and other components have led to new tools which can be used successfully in all companies. The Generation Y and Z (born 1980 and 1995 respectively), also referred to as “digital natives”, are changing traditional forms of corporate governance and management through their different socialization compared to earlier generations and the resulting expectations and demands on the workplace. Their imprinting by Internet culture, the rapid communication and interaction taking place there (instant gratification) with its

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2  Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

numerous reaction modes such as likes and ratings open the field for culture hacks with numerous new instruments. But also innovations from the human resources area, such as the 360° Feedback, lead to a changed view of performance and the conditions under which successful cooperation works. The mutual evaluation, also the assessment of the performance of superiors (and being assessed by “subordinates”) change the view of the framework conditions and factors that lead to a fruitful cooperation. The open and transparent culture of dialogue required for this is essential for culture hacks and led to several usable tools that originate from this field. The Lean Management propagated for only a few decades can also be seen as another factor. Central instruments, such as the methods of Six-Sigma, offer many instruments with which the increasing tendency towards bureaucratic overkill in all areas of economic activity can be consciously analyzed and reduced in terms of their added value. Numerous new tools and instruments aim to make organizations leaner, faster and more direct in their contact with employees, partners or customers. This too is an important pioneer and companion in the development of culture hacks. Culture Hacks were given another boost by the development of behavioral economics. This evidence-based, experimental orientation of economics, which departs from the paradigm of the so-called homo oeconomicus and instead places the limited rational behavior of humans, who are more influenced by emotional than rational moments in their behavior, at the center of the analysis. One of these new paradigms is the field of so-called nudging, which can be translated as setting incentives or giving nudges. The core of the concept is to change the decision architecture of the subjects in such a way (some also speak of “manipulating”) that “desired” more rational decisions are made. The best-known examples are the opt-in or opt-out concepts for organ donation. If the citizen has to actively oppose organ donation, the proportion of organ donors in the population is much higher. Example: In Germany the opt-in principle applies (the citizen has to become an organ donor actively and carry a corresponding ID), the proportion of organ donors is only about 36%. In Austria, on the other hand, the opt-out principle applies with the consequence that about 99.5% of the population are potential organ donors (only a few 0.5% have registered in the objection register)—with a comparable socio-economic and cultural background. Changing the decision architecture therefore has immense effects on the actual, effective decision. The nudging-oriented concepts are increasingly being transferred to business situations and are therefore playing an important role in the design and dissemination of Culture Hacks. Finally, the development of technology should be mentioned as another important driver. The technology push, as it is documented in the digitalization of entire life worlds with the possibility of new work concepts as well as an equally ubiquitous IT penetration and an overlapping development from everyday life to professional life— and vice versa. New forms of communication, e.g. through chats, decentralized creativity tools and decision-making tools as well as further more extend the repertoire of

2.2  For Which Organizations are Culture Hacks Suitable?

25

how work life can be organized. These new tools change the way we work together. The available and always developing arsenal of new work tools, often referred to as productivity tools, open up new possibilities. The ever-faster Internet, smartphones and other new devices, multimedia, virtual and augmented reality as well as artificial intelligence significantly influence our communication and interaction potentials. For example, digital Kanban can change virtual collaboration significantly and thus also be considered as a Culture Hack. The same applies to numerous other tools.

2.2 For Which Organizations are Culture Hacks Suitable? Of course, the conditions can be completely different in different companies. But one thing can be clearly seen, whether • • • •

start-up over family business to corporation small, medium or large companies profit-oriented, cooperative, non-profit organizations or authorities from creative service agencies to manufacturing industry, trade to agriculture

Culture Hacks can be used everywhere. However, restrictions and limitations must be observed. There will be industry-specific peculiarities and indeed also intercultural sensitivities that need to be considered. Direct, immediate communication is often not recommended if, for example, an intervention could lead to a so-called loss of face. Here, of course, a culturally sensitive approach is required. The strategic and systematic use of Culture Hacks demanded here also allows the necessary preparation to avoid falling into potential traps that could have the opposite effect. The only decisive factor is whether a desired corporate culture is defined and pursued. Where this is the case—and this should be the case in many organizations—Culture Hacks can be used. It remains important to have a high sensitivity for what is possible in the respective current situation. In public administration units, the pursuit of an individual corporate culture is likely to be less pronounced and, as a result, the use of Culture Hacks will be of less importance. The stronger the corporate culture plays a role in an organization in terms of economic success, the more effective and important Culture Hacks can be. Where the individual human being and employee can make an important contribution and difference in the performance and value creation, Culture Hacks are particularly helpful and should be considered. The degree of professionalization of an organization can be both a hindrance, as a certain resistance to change and skepticism towards new things may prevail due to the already sophisticated instrumentation, as well as an advantage if a conscious openness and willingness to experiment are valued as competence-enhancing qualities.

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2  Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

2.3 How Do Culture Hacks Get into the Company? The question of how this new view and the new management tool can diffuse as an organizational innovation in the company also deserves a brief discussion. The apparently amazingly simple answer is: Through you, dear reader! The somewhat more detailed answer to this question follows the normal channels of dissemination. A topic receives prominence in which it receives attention in publications, conferences, studies, through theoretical justification or successful case studies. Then it needs so-called gatekeepers who make sure that it also arrives with the responsible people in the company. Mostly this is done top-down, in which entrepreneurs or managers take up this concept, evaluate it and check its feasibility and implementation in their own company. If this assessment is positive, a transfer to operational reality is initiated or commissioned by own implementation or by the—if available—HR department. Less often, however, this can also be done bottom-up, if in certain departments or teams rather experimental work environments can be found, as is often the case in IT departments or in the development department. Then small islands can arise, which can expand when other departments become aware of possible successful developments. Often, Culture Hacks are also brought into the company by external consultants, coaches or trainers. They act as external knowledge carriers who are to transfer or revive new knowledge and competence in the company which is not yet available or has not been successfully implemented. These external know-how carriers are often the initiators of new developments in the company due to their also widely spread experience. Depending on the different roles, whether as a consultant, coach or trainer, this can enable or initiate a quick transfer of know-how. Last but not least, systematic representations, as this book intends, can contribute to articulating new management trends and preparing them for practice. So it depends on the recipient what he does with this knowledge—and that’s where we’re back with you, dear reader: Make sure to implement some of the promising approaches in your company. There should be no shortage of ideas.

2.4 Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples The potential for irritation of Culture Hacks can, as already mentioned briefly, be very different. Let us again consider our basic typology of Culture Hacks (Fig. 1.4). From this perspective, various approaches to suitability, prerequisites and possible effects arise. These different views will now be discussed in more detail. Culture Hacks address the mindset and behavior directly, the more firmly these have already taken root in employees and in an organization, the greater the necessary change effort that can lead to a new mindset or behavior.

2.4  Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples

27

To illustrate this, some examples of how Culture Hacks can be used in practice are given in the next section. More examples can be found in the inventory, which is carried out in Chap. 6. A Urgent Warning in Advance! However, Culture Hacks can also have an unintended counterproductive effect. The use of Culture Hacks in daily practice requires the following three premises: • There is a constructive, positive corporate culture in the relevant business area; mistrust, bullying, strong competition, etc. should not predominate. • The maturity of the organization in communication and feedback should allow for direct address. • The culture should be based on mutual respect and appreciation. If these conditions are not met, the use (still) should be avoided. Culture Hacks would be misunderstood too often, cause too much irritation and thus reinforce a more counterproductive or even destructive atmosphere.

2.4.1 Strategically Oriented Culture Hacks The recipient should generally have a good knowledge of the desired goals and pursued strategies of the corporate culture here. The current potential for surprise will be high in many cases, but it will be quickly understood. Non-strategy-compliant thinking and acting becomes immediately evident to the recipient through this intervention— if not, the Culture Hack bringer must take care of this context. The intention of using Culture Hacks is therefore immediately comprehensible to the participants. The use of strategy-oriented Culture Hacks therefore requires good preparation, their outcome and effect are usually predictable. Their use should be without much risk if the necessary work has been done in advance. However, it does require a certain amount of courage from the person implementing it in many situations—the employees as the addressees of the Culture Hacks are brought into an unpleasant situation by this, their comfort zone is stretched if not even exceeded and this must be endured. The more impressive and conscious this experience is, the more sustainable the effect and the associated learning processes with their impact on mindset and behavior will be. The right use of these Culture Hacks is therefore in the tension field between too little and too much, the right measure always has to be decided situationally. The individual psychological load capacity and resilience of the employee always has to be taken into account. In order to illustrate the use of Culture Hacks, some examples from different work contexts are given which postulate a reference to the fictitious corporate culture in any company (in the sense of a comparison of target to actual culture). The Culture Hacks

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2  Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

chosen at this point come from the first category, i.e. they are strategy-oriented. These Culture Hacks are still relatively new in practice and their potential for use is still little researched. Example: One Goal of Corporate Culture is, For Example, a High Willingness to Innovate

In a meeting, a failed project is criticized heavily, and the discussion increasingly turns into a search for those to blame. The manager interrupts this discussion with the words: “Ladies and gentlemen, one goal of our corporate culture is to become more innovative. Innovations can fail and they are of course prone to errors; anyone who tries something new can fail. Let us now discuss in much more detail the aspects which errors or false assumptions were made in the project and how we can avoid them in future. For this it is important to know the decision-making motives as precisely as possible. I thank you for the open discussion and presentation of the procedure, because only in this way can we learn together and everyone can learn from the mistakes that have been made. We want to become more innovative, and this includes the possibility of failure or making mistakes.” Another possibility here would be, for example, to invite the responsible person (or team) to give a presentation at a meeting about the failed project, and above all to discuss the resulting lessons learned for the future. This documents that the open handling of mistakes is viewed and appreciated in a positive light, because it offers an excellent opportunity to learn together from experience. ◄ A second example also comes from a meeting situation. Example: One Goal of Corporate Culture is a High Level of Customer Orientation

In a meeting, the “impossible” or “excessive” expectations of a customer in a specific order are discussed. In the discussion, the customers are increasingly spoken of in a negative light. The manager interrupts the discussion with the words: “Dear colleagues, let us try to better understand what the customer actually wants and why we cannot currently empathize with his requests. Are these requirements really senseless? Has our communication led to false expectations on the part of the customer? In our corporate culture, customer orientation is of great importance. So we should first want to understand the customer, perhaps the problem lies in our communication with the customer.” ◄ A third example may seem exaggerated, but it is primarily intended to demonstrate the breadth of possible applications. In any case, this constructed example also shows the courage required of the manager if the outcome of the intervention is completely open. The example also shows that Culture Hacks can also be effective when there is no discrepancy between current and expected behavior.

2.4  Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples

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Example: One Goal of Corporate Culture is Clear Focus on Implementing the Current Strategy

You go to the coffee corner as a manager, get a coffee and on the way back you pass a meeting room. You see several of your employees discussing there. You open the door to the meeting room and ask: “Can you please tell me what meaning your meeting subject has for our strategy achievement?” And you look at all employees directly expectantly. If you first get downcast looks that are directed downwards and no answers come, then you hold the break in silence until almost already unpleasant. Then you state: “I see that what you are discussing here obviously has no strategic reference to our goals and is therefore not important. I dissolve this meeting herewith. Let’s focus together on what is now important for all of us.” If, on the other hand, an answer comes which shows that the meeting has a strategic orientation, then you ask for your understanding, immediately afterwards give any factual feedback and comment briefly positively appreciative in which you thank this self-responsible joint initiative and the commitment and wish good progress. ◄ These examples illustrate the use and benefit of strategy-oriented culture hacks. They all touch emotionally, there is a goose bumps feeling for the affected, one feels “caught”. The occasion is spontaneous, immediate and immediate and follows a concrete reference that is clear to everyone involved. Everyone immediately knows what it is about, what the underlying concern is, it is directly emotionally experienced. And the use of culture hacks requires courage from the managers to provoke just as unpleasant situations and to endure them, which can contribute constructively to the awareness and development of the desired corporate culture. Each time the concrete reference is made to an important cultural factor and it becomes clear that the behaviour just practised is in conflict with the desired corporate culture.

2.4.2 Nudging-Oriented Culture Hacks This type is usually not used in spontaneously appearing situations, but rather deliberately and well planned. On the one hand, these culture hacks are mostly carried out taking into account medium- to long-term goals, after all, it is about an intended change in behavior through a conscious change in the decision architecture for the employee. In this way, the desired effect is systematically and predictably achieved. With a culture hack of this type, their use is also not caused by an immediately spontaneous action. The longer planning process makes it possible to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages systematically and to calculate potential side effects. The risk of their use is therefore initially lower than with the strategy-oriented type discussed earlier. However, some of the culture hacks can cause employees to react with a condescending, paternalistic manner

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2  Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

that can lead to a defensive reaction. Here it is important to pay attention to a transparent justification of the action in the sense of the organization. Behind these measures is not exposed a manager, but they usually come in the form of rather anonymous regulations. A manager is therefore not particularly challenged by her personal courage. The possible areas of application of this type of culture hacks are still in the experimental stage, but a high potential can be assumed in them. Ultimately, these possibilities of culture hacks should be tried out, they can contribute significantly to an improved and desired corporate culture. Creativity in the construction of company-specific culture hacks is very much in demand. Nudging-oriented culture hacks are interventions that act much less directly. As already stated in the definition of these, it is mainly about a change in the decision architecture, which is to lead to a desired behavior through certain incentives. Also this intended behavior follows an aspiring corporate culture. Example: Promoting the Personal Development of Employees

The company attaches great importance to the health and responsibility of employees. In addition to many other health offers, the company offers its employees a free membership in a renowned fitness club, which has its location in the same office complex. The only condition of the company is that the fitness center should be visited on average at least 4 times a month. If this frequency of visits is not achieved without good reason, the company will discontinue the payment of the membership fee and cancel the membership for this employee. ◄ Example: Strengthening the Orientation Towards Innovation

A high value is placed on orientation towards innovation in a company, which is to be promoted. The company decides to refurnish the meeting rooms and paint them with new colours (green, yellow, light blue, gold, etc.) according to the latest scientific findings, in order to promote creativity. ◄ Example: High Internal Productivity, Speed and Efficiency

All meetings in the company will in future be carried out as stand-up meetings and limited to a maximum of 40 minutes. This means that only standing tables are available, which are set up in an oval shape, and a large stopwatch is placed at one end of the meeting room, which counts down the time from a preset of 40 minutes. Defined project meetings, which of course may take longer and also include tables and chairs, are separated from this. ◄ These three examples illustrate that these culture hacks have a much less invasive effect on employees. In the first example, the decision-making architecture is designed with incentives in that the employer pays the membership fees. Other incentives could, for

2.4  Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples

31

example, be to allow the visit to the fitness club during working hours or to grant up to 50% of working time to a certain extent. Here it becomes very clear what a wide range of variations these incentives can take. But the classification as a culture hack is also clear: employees are encouraged to engage in a desired behaviour, sport is not only good for health, visits to the fitness club often take place with colleagues, and this can have a positive effect on the working atmosphere, community, identification with the employer and much more. At the same time, it becomes clear that the characteristics of culture hacks are fulfilled to a much less dominant extent as a whole. Nevertheless, they are still touched by them to some extent: through this generous offer, employees may first be emotionally touched, a possible group pressure to fitness may be felt, the occasion is not experienced as spontaneous or immediate, but it is experienced as a voluntary service of the employer at each visit to the fitness club. The courage is not initially demanded by a single executive, it is usually perceived as a measure of the HR department, but a manager can still encourage employees to visit together in order to stimulate the described side effects—and that may require some courage. The second example does not act on the decision architecture at first, after the restructuring there are simply no alternatives at first, at least not apparently. But the idea behind it is that the atmosphere in the “creative spaces” is so contagious that in the future many more meetings will take place there in different group sizes and compositions with the desired results of higher creativity and, as a result, increased innovation strength. Here too, we find the characteristics of the Culture Hacks at least subtly fulfilled. The furniture, the room design, the technical aids, the colors subtly touch the employees and thus act as “nudges”, even the courage comes from management, which has implemented the will to completely new design and creation of creative spaces. The third example also illustrates the changing effect of new formats. If meetings are limited to 40 minutes, not only will the responsibility of the meeting leader for strict time discipline increase, but at the same time the expectation of the participants and their preparation of the individual agenda items will be significantly increased, the previously provided meeting documents must be correspondingly prepared for decision-making and worked through, one’s own opinion must be considered in advance, there will be a significant increase in efficiency. The participants in the meeting will be much more disciplined and less distracted by the standing during the meeting. If the culture factor is a higher internal productivity, speed and efficiency, this culture hack can contribute to this. It is also clear how the different types of culture hacks work together: Innovation orientation can be promoted at the same time by both a improved error culture (cf. Example 2 in Sect. 2.4.1) and by a corresponding design of creative spaces—the mere use of this term already suggests a positively connoted expectation.

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2.4.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks Artifact-induced culture hacks are the easiest to use of all the types discussed. Many of these culture hacks can also be used quite “trial and error”. They are mainly intended to optimize cooperation and the way in which services are provided in the sense of the desired corporate culture. The preparation does not take place in spontaneous situations, but can be planned in the long term, the comfort zone of the employees is not excessively stressed, at least not very surprisingly. Their respective benefits arise from the immediate effects in the concrete application. If these culture hacks are new methods and instruments, a certain need for qualification will be necessary, but their implementation will not require special personal courage and courage. However, a high degree of curiosity and a certain willingness to take risks are quite necessary. The measures follow an organizational logic and are also perceived as such. Supportive for the success of such culture hacks appears to be an open, constructive willingness to try something new and to be inspired by the benefits and success of these culture hacks, to retain them or even to try and implement more. It also appears advantageous here to have a systematic process for the identification of relevant culture hacks and for the planned use of these. New methods and instruments change the way in which cooperation, collaboration and services are provided and thus also the mindset and behaviour of teams and individuals. A targeted design process is presented in Chap. 6. First, three examples should illustrate the concrete design of this category of culture hacks. These artefacts, i.e. artificially created phenomena such as methods, formats, analogue or digital tools, create new realities for employees which they have to learn to deal with. Example: Strengthening Trust-Based Collaboration in Teams

In the company, numerous projects are carried out in changing team compositions. The project kick-off with the getting-to-know phase is now carried out with so-called Personal Maps. This means that each team member fills out a given structure, which, for example, includes the following: (home and place of residence, education, work experience, hobbies, favourite travel destinations, family, friends, values, goals). These personal maps are hung up as flipcharts on the wall (where they also remain during the project run time). In turn, the team turns together to the personal map of a specific team member. But now we do not follow the usual form that each team member introduces himself, but the other team members ask questions about the aspects written down and deepen these. So someone can ask a question about specific hobbies or popular travel destinations (for example, “Your hobby is dancing, what fascinates you so much about Argentine tango?”). ◄

2.4  Culture Hacks in Daily Use—Some Examples

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Example: Improving Transparency and Accelerating Projects

In the company, a Kanban board is introduced for project work. This board helps to visualize the tasks in the team and to create transparency of the project progress. The pending tasks are assigned to the respective phases To-Do (upcoming work package), Doing (currently in progress) and Done (completed). This serves primarily for task planning, supports transparency of resources and serves for focusing. Project meetings usually take place in front of the Kanban board, which thus allows a permanent visualization of the project status. ◄ Example: Empowering Employees

The method of the World Cafe is introduced for certain meeting formats. This allows larger meetings to be organized that still retain a small group character. For this purpose, hosts are determined who sit at a table to which 4–6 guests can join. Each table has a topic and a host as moderator, at the same time several tables are offered and several rounds take place – the guests change, the hosts stay and moderate the conversation. They also keep a protocol visible to everyone on the table, take up the contributions of the previous participants and continue the discussion in a targeted manner. The respective moderators take responsibility for the result. ◄ The examples show clearly how breaking old habits can lead to massive changes in behavior. The first example immediately shows how the individual presentation can be changed in such a way that the team members get to know each other differently. Active interest in the other is at the center. Even private interests are much more involved in the process, which can lead to commonalities, increased interest, but overall to new interactions and higher trust through the experienced authenticity and better collaboration as a result. If the desired corporate culture strives for better collaboration through trusting cooperation, this instrument of the Personal Map can make a significant contribution to this. Here too, we see that the characteristics of Culture Hacks are indeed given. The arrangement and enforcement of these measures is experienced by the employees as a pattern break with previous routines, the comfort zone of previous experiences is also left behind and the implementation will certainly require courage on the part of the management. After all, the acceptance of these measures cannot be anticipated. The second example illustrates how transparency is carried into the company through project work. From now on, project meetings will also take place directly in front of the Kanban board, planning and resource allocation can be discussed and visualized interactively. Of course, the Kanban board can be extended and digital software (such as Trello) can also be used to support it. Especially in times of distributed work environments, such as home office, they can ensure the desired and always visible transparency.

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2  Significance and Examples of Culture Hacks in Practice

The final example shows how responsibility can increasingly be transferred to individual employees. The change in meeting formats immediately puts several employees in more important positions, they have to establish the overall context and feel committed to the result. At the same time, each individual employee is challenged to actively participate through the focus on small groups. Of course, the selection of methods used should be based on the culture goals. The different methods can support different cultural factors, such as—as in the examples— the orientation towards innovation, customer orientation, focus on strategy, collaboration, creativity, productivity, empowerment, trust and other possible aspects.

2.4.4 Evaluation of the Respective Manifestations of Culture Hacks If we compare the prototypical examples with respect to the described characteristics of Culture Hacks, the different types can be approximately classified, as shown in Fig. 2.1.

Features of the Culture Hacks

Strategy oriented

Nudging oriented

Arfact induced

Necessary preliminary planning

high

high

medium

Strategic orientaon

high

medium

medium

Competence level of the contributor

high

medium

medium

Courage required

high

low

medium

Risk of failure

high

low

medium

Speed of acon

high

low

high

Required level of maturity

high

low

medium

Fig. 2.1   Comparison of the manifestations of different types of Culture Hacks

References

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This classification provides a good orientation to better assess the different degrees of effectiveness and power of the different types of Culture Hacks. This leads to a higher sensitivity in their use and to a more responsible handling.

References Appelo J (2011) Management 3.0. leading agile developers, developing agile leaders. Pearson, London Appelo J (2012) How to change the world. Change management 3.0. Jojo, Rotterdam Appelo J (2016) Managing for Happiness. Übungen, Werkzeuge und Praktiken, um jedes Team zu motivieren. Vahlen, München Appelo J (2019) Startup, scaleup, screwup. 42 tools to accelerate lean & agile business growth. Wiley, Hoboken Bergmann F (2017) Neue Arbeit, Neue Kultur. Arbor, Freiburg Herget J (2023) Shaping corporate culture. For sustainable business success. Springer, Berlin Herget J (2021) Digitale Unternehmenskultur. Strategien für die moderne Arbeitswelt. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden Herget J, Strobl H (2017) (Hrsg) Unternehmenskultur in der Praxis. Grundlagen – Methoden – Best Practices, Springer, Wiesbaden Laloux F (2014) Reinventing Organizations. Ein Leitfaden zur Gestaltung sinnstiftender Formen der Zusammenarbeit. Vahlen, München Ries E (2012) Lean Startup: Schnell, risikolos und erfolgreich Unternehmen gründen. Redline, München Rose D (2019) Das agile Unternehmen für Dummies. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim Schnell N, Schnell A (2019) New Work Hacks. 50 Inspirationen für modernes und innovatives Arbeiten. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden

3

Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

Abstract

Culture Hacks are considered in this book as an integrated instrument of cultural change. Of course, an isolated approach is also possible, but it does not lead directly to the desired corporate culture in a goal-oriented manner. If you want to use Culture Hacks systematically, it is recommended to follow a certain logic. On the one hand, the occasions are to be structured, in which situations are which Culture Hacks promising? On the other hand, the different types of Culture Hacks are then to be evaluated for their potential, corresponding candidates can be distilled and the use in practice can be planned in a roadmap. Finally, it remains important to evaluate the prerequisites and, if necessary, optimization measures. On the one hand, the organizational maturity should be such that Culture Hacks can be introduced and the organization can absorb them. On the other hand, the personal maturity of both the bringer and the receiver should be considered. It is important to consider whether the chosen Culture Hacks can be introduced safely and sovereignly. Only after these conditions have been met should the implementation be started. Because Culture Hacks can indeed massively irritate corporate culture, collateral damage is also possible if too little attention is paid to the conditions of use. The discussion of these conditions is part of this chapter. Culture Hacks come along quietly, but can have a remarkable effect if they are successful. They are the subtle but very effective companion of cultural design measures. They are not in the foreground, but they are the catalyst and amplifier for new, desired behavior and make aware of no longer up-to-date or desired behavior. As a result, they are an integral part of comprehensive culture change initiatives.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_3

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3.1 When Should Culture Hacks be Used? Culture Hacks can always be used when a discrepancy between desired and actual behavior becomes apparent. This will be especially evident in interpersonal encounters, including all types of meetings and meetings, project meetings, events, whether in large groups, in smaller teams or in conversations. The following general requirements are necessary for the use of Culture Hacks, which also depend strongly on the respective type of Culture Hack: • Formal or informal encounter situation; • Immediate occasion that becomes evident in a discrepancy between desired and actually practiced behavior; • The constellation and situation in the work process appear to trigger a lasting effect to reinforce the culture change among the employees involved; • The user of Culture Hacks—as a rule the initiating manager—can draw on a repertoire of suitable interventions. The occasions can not always be predicted exactly in advance. Often, the best Culture Hacks, this is especially true for the strategy-oriented Culture Hacks, always seem to be spontaneous and born out of the situation. Culture Hacks, on the other hand, which have been superimposed on the occasion-providing situation as if they had been planned for a long time, may miss their intended effect. Either they appear artificial or they do not meet an emotionally unprejudiced situation. The most effective Culture Hacks happen “en passant”, that is, in passing, they act spontaneously, but their message is clear and clear to all participants immediately, without much translation effort. However, the impression should not be given that one would have to wait a long time for the right moments: as the saying goes, the prepared often find opportunities that they can then also take advantage of! This is certainly true for the use of Culture Hacks.

3.2 Diagnosis: Evaluating Potential Suitable situations should be recognized and utilized quickly. How can this be prepared? On the one hand, the respective topic, i.e. the corresponding cultural factor, should stand in the focus with a clearly defined expectation. Therefore, the manager should concentrate on a few cultural factors within a certain period of time. A systematics for preparation is treated in detail in Chap. 4. This applies especially to the strategy-oriented culture hacks. Nudging-oriented and artifact-induced culture hacks work with much larger time horizons that can be used without a concrete immediate occasion. These culture hacks do not

3.3  Strategy: Identify Candidates

39

have to trigger a spontaneous surprise effect to work well. On the contrary, they can and should be introduced multiple times, without surprises. We can conclude: In the diagnosis, it is to be analyzed • Is there a discrepancy between desired and actual behavior? • Does this difference offer the opportunity to demonstratively illustrate the importance of the desired behavior? • Is there a method, a new approach or an intervention that can develop the type of collaboration in the direction of a desired corporate culture? • Can this situation be embedded in a suitable narrative that has the potential to be told as a story, that is, to be multiplication-capable? These are general requirements that illustrate that there is potential in a given situation to evoke an irritation by means of a pattern break.

3.3 Strategy: Identify Candidates If an appropriate situation for the application of a Culture Hack appears to be present, it is now time to select the right intervention. What character should the Culture Hack have? Should only the discrepancy between desired and practiced be pointed out? Or should it be shown where this behavior would lead if it were further practiced in deviation from the desired corporate culture? Even a radical change of perspective—for example, putting oneself in the situation of a customer—can be helpful here. So a promising candidate must be identified and adapted to the situation. A good candidate for a Culture Hack has the following characteristics: • • • •

the intended effect is achieved with a high degree of probability, the user can adapt it to the situation, the candidate appears clear and is not ambiguous in its interpretation effect, the or the recipients of the Culture Hack are not overwhelmed by the resulting situation, • the user feels confident enough to use this Culture Hack now. The courage necessary for this in this specific situation is available (which will often require an inner jerk). Again, it should be noted that for nudging-oriented and artifact-induced Culture Hacks, this process is far more relaxed, as it can be planned systematically more slowly and comprehensively. Likewise, the time of application for the development of the intended effect is not comparable in terms of success.

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3  Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

3.4 Roadmap In the following, we summarize the procedure steps shown so far in a roadmap. The starting point of systematic and strategically used culture hacks is always a clear vision of the desired corporate culture. Each culture hack serves to promote a desired, specific cultural factor. In a next step, a focus on a few prioritized cultural factors with desired behaviors is to be concentrated. This phase is described in detail in Chap. 4. The next step is to “search” for potential occasions that are suitable for the application of culture hacks. This can be imagined well like a “scanning” of possible suitable situations. If such a suitable situation with high potential is identified, the most suitable one from the repertoire of culture hacks is adapted and also applied. After that, the effect should be evaluated and reflected as “lessons learned”. In addition to the immediate evaluation of the use of a specific culture hack, the effect emanating from this should also be assessed in order to achieve the desired corporate culture, because that is what it is all about in the end. These individual phases can be represented as in Fig. 3.1. 

Culture Hacks only work if they are used specifically. They should be used spontaneously and appropriately. However, this requires a carefully planned process with thorough preparation. This good preparation also creates the necessary composure and confidence in the user. This situation should at least have been anticipated and played through mentally. Then the culture hack will also be applied convincingly and achieve the desired effect.

1

Clarity about desired corporate culture

2

Focusing on concrete, priorized culture factors

3

Planning and qualificaon of the applicaon of suitable culture hacks

4

Scanning of potenally suitable triggers (diagnosis)

5

Selecon and adaptaon of effecve culture hacks

6

Implementaon and execuon of the culture hacks

7

Evaluaon of the effect of the concrete culture hack in the specific situaon

8

Evaluaon of the effect of the culture hacks on the desired corporate culture

Fig. 3.1   Roadmap for the use of Culture Hacks

3.5  Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks

41

3.5 Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks One thing must be clear: the use of Culture Hacks is not suitable per se for all organizations and also not for all people who want to use them. Both the company and the people must have a certain “maturity” and sovereignty in dealing with difficult, partly unpredictable and possibly also conflict-laden situations, in order to be able to achieve the intended effects. Otherwise, culture hacks can lead to dysfunctional consequences and damage people sustainably. The necessary and meaningful framework conditions will be considered in more detail below, under which the use can be considered meaningful. The knowledge of the corresponding level of maturity helps to determine the right dose. At the same time, this snapshot only represents the starting point. Both organizations and individuals can—and will—develop further and thus use culture hacks to develop the positive effects for further development of the corporate culture with increasing experience in a more targeted and focused manner. Excursus: Mindset

This book talks a lot about mindset, but what is it actually and, above all, can a mindset be changed? This is one of the central questions of Culture Hacks, because they are primarily intended to act on the mindset and change it—a great intention. We generally understand mindset to be the way of thinking, attitude, the way of thinking or the self-image that one constructs of oneself and how one perceives oneself in the world. Mindsets initially include what is going on in the head and how it is interpreted, the effect can and will also be felt physically. It therefore includes thoughts, feelings and physical perception and constitution. For a long time, the work with mindset was rather reserved for the esoteric literature and numerous courses and workshops—this is now changing with the increasing acceptance of the absolute importance of this topic for a successful life. Cognitive therapy deals scientifically founded with interventions to change the mindset. It is above all the merit of Carol Dweck (2017), who pointed out the special importance of mindsets and described the possibilities of changing them. The Stanford professor first published her now internationally bestselling book in 2006. The basis of her idea was the analysis that all people can be located between two different mindset types. On the one hand, there is the so-called “fixed mindset”, which is characterized by the fact that one’s own person is only perceived as limitedly changeable in intelligence, competence and ability. On the other hand, she describes the other manifestation as the “growth mindset”, which is characterized by the belief in learning and development. In reality, the pure manifestation will only be found rather rarely, there will be areas in which one has a fixed mindset (“I will never learn that”, “I can’t do that”), on the other hand there will be areas in which a growth mindset prevails (“What can I learn from this situation?”,

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3  Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

“What can I do better in the future?”). As a rule, we both have shares in us. Dweck impressively shows with numerous examples from sport, art, relationships, education, school and university, but also from business life, that only the growth mindset can lead to outstanding performance and to the exploitation of one’s own potential. The good news is: Changing the mindset is neither complicated nor particularly time-consuming. A good coaching or a few workshops are enough for most people to take the path to the growth mindset. The basis of the consideration is the brain plasticity, which has been well researched for only a few decades and can always learn and relearn. The manifestation of a transpersonal mindset in organizations is significantly influenced by the top management. The mindset is not only linked to persons, but also develops as an organizational thinking, that is, a prevailing perceivable way of thinking and interpretation. If a board of directors has a fixed mindset, it will also cultivate this way of thinking and try to eradicate all other efforts in the company. This may sound brutal, but it is, as numerous examples from business practice show. If the chairman of the board is equipped with the corresponding power, he will put others in the “ranks” and thus fix and limit the entire organization, that is, establish a fixed mindset. Employees with a growth mindset will try to leave the company very quickly or will have to arrange themselves and, in turn, increasingly operate in a fixed mindset in order not to collide. But this phenomenon is not only limited to organizations, it encompasses entire societies. The current example of Belarus illustrates this vividly:

Example

The press, 18.08.2020: Time to go: Lukaschenko has no feel for his people anymore “The absurdity of the Minsk regime was on display Sunday when Lukaschenko asked thousands of his supporters gathered from all over the country at a rally: ‘Do you want freedom?’ ‘No!’ came the reply. ‘Do you want change?’ Again a loud ‘No!’ ‘Do you want reforms?’—‘No!’” Would you like to live in this state? Would you like to work in such an organization? Would you like to work under such a supervisor? ◄ In an organization with a growth mindset, there is a culture of growth and development-oriented collaboration. In an organization dominated by a fixed mindset, however, there is a culture of self-affirmation, of worry about assessment instead of learning and growth, and of orientation towards the future.

3.5  Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks

43

For the sake of clarification, a few characterizations are presented below, with which the different effects can be made transparent (Table 3.1) (Dweck 2017). It is important to emphasize that both expressions can predominate in a company at the same time, in different departments, functional areas or other organizational differentiations. For example, it is possible that a development area is very strongly anchored in the growth mindset mode, but often feels slowed down by the administration, which

Table 3.1  Differentiation of fixed vs. growth mindset in organizations Fixed Mindset

Growth Mindset

Group thinking is the rule (group think): A uni- A “we think” dominates, everyone thinks along, ideas are criticized, further developed, form opinion emerges, there is no talk against individual opinions are linked and discussed it, criticism and counterarguments no longer appear to be required. Own ideas are no longer expressed out of fear of rejection To have talent, either you have the intelligence and ability, best documented by certificates. Development is only considered possible to a limited extent, neither for oneself nor for the employees

Developing talents, leaders live the belief and trust in human potential and development— their own and that of employees

There is no open, productive discussion, criticism and dissent are omitted

Criticism, dissent and discussion are desired and sought and accepted, mistakes are learned from

New and challenging is avoided. You stay in the Difficult tasks are accepted. Challenges serve comfort zone, you value familiar paths and safe, personality development, no fear of exceeding predictable reactions the comfort zone, because that is often where personal development takes place One’s own image (the ego) is maintained, status Self-initiatives are rewarded, suggestions are orientation, elitism. One prefers to stay among sought from outside, diversity is experienced as one’s own kind a quality feature It is mainly measured whether one meets the requirements or whether one is better. The future potential is not in the foreground

Learning something new has a high value, openness to change is given, new experiences are actively sought

Evaluating and judging in performers and underperformers

Criticism and feedback are gladly accepted, feedback is given constructively, open communication

Arrogance dominates, know everything better, no eye level, disqualify others

Listen, recognize, promote, learn, work together

I- and me-orientation

We- and us-orientation

The leader acts as a “judge”

The leader acts as a “coach”

Individual performances are highlighted

Group performances are rewarded

Isolation, avoiding any comparison, fear of judgement and criticism

Ability to address and grow from difficulties

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3  Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

operates in a fixed mindset mode. In any case, the individual influence of the respective leader has a huge impact here. In Fig. 3.2 starting from Dweck’s model (2017, p. 263), this is extended from the individual to the areas of team and the entire organization. 

The good news is, growth mindset can be conveyed and trained!

It can only be strongly recommended here to deal with the different mindsets, the individual, the group-related and the organizational. The mere use of the word “yet” (for example: “we can not do it yet”) can immediately set a development in motion. Further deepenings on the origin of mindsets, that is, how thoughts arise, beliefs these thoughts force into an individual, limiting interpretation grid, how these beliefs can be systematically checked, how thoughts affect emotions—and emotions or body sensations influence thoughts, offer helpful insights (Robbins 2004). Katie Byron has presented a widely used concept in her book “The Work” (Byron and Mitchell 2002) on how limiting and negative beliefs can be broken down. Her concept can also be applied to teams or entire organizations. What should one take away from this excursion?

1. Check where you stand as an individual, team and organization. Initially also accept that in different areas different mindsets can be dominant. 2. Understand what brings the fixed mindset to the fore with us. What are the occasions, which situations, which interpretations? Are they mistakes, deadlines, time pressure, criticism or conflicts? 3. Learn to deal with these “triggers”, transform them into a growth mindset, for example with the questions: What have I (we) learned in this situation? How can I (we) use this experience as a basis for further future development? Try to take these messages from a current fixed mindset into a growth mindset! Learn to use the power of the word “yet”. 4. The belief in one’s own person, group and company is essential. 5. Maintain confidence in future development, encourage each other. 6. Be flexible, take new paths if the current or planned ones do not lead further. 7. Implement, test the new knowledge and new experiences quickly in practice. 8. Also pass on the knowledge gained to others and support them in their development.

Persist mainly in rounes, shy of new things

Avoidance strategies are the focus of a€enon

Search for ps and tricks, soluons by others (externals) are preferred

Dismissed as denunciaon and incompetence...

Denigrated as coincidence and a€ributed to fortunate circumstances, as a result stagnate early and achieve less than their full

Are perceived as a threat

Rather concentrates on own strengths, defends own business model

Preserving, perfecng the exisng, blame is sought in external developments

Is dismissed as "lèse majesté", the crics are qualified as culprits

Vicm role, blame for one's own lack of success is sought in regulaon, unfair framework condions or external factors. Feel threatened by the success of others

Ignore useful feedback

Considered fruitless or superfluous

Are approached defensively or give up easily

Avoid challenges

Individual

Success of others

Cricism

Effort

Seek lessons and inspiraon in the success of others

Learns from cricism

... is the way to the championship

Keeps on despite obstacles

Embrace challenges

Challenges such as changes in the compeve field and innovaons

Obstacles

Individual

Acvely seek be€er methods for even more successful collaboraon

Use benchmarking as a systemac source of learning and development, strive for higher levels of achievement

Organizaon regularly quesons itself and the business model

Joint effort strengthens focus and identy

Experiences growing in collaboraon through the feat of strength and strengthens the sense of community

Open cricism and feedback are always experienced as construcve

Obstacles mobilize creavity and potenal

Are seen as a basis for further development, make the organizaon stronger

Organisaon

Encourage each other to overcome obstacles

Tackle challenges together offensively and confidently; everyone brings their own competencies to the team.

Team

... leads to the pursuit of learning and development

Growth Mindset

Paradigm: "That's the way you can always evolve"

Features

and have a tendency

Fig. 3.2   The different mindset paradigms at the individual, team and organizational level

Team

Organisaon

leads to complacency...

Paradigm: "That's the way you are "

Fixed Mindset

3.5  Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks 45

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3  Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

3.5.1 Organizational Maturity Culture Hacks represent irritations for organizations and challenge known, practiced, and cultivated patterns. Organizations are conglomerates of people who are constituted by structures and processes. They define the space that the acting actors can usually perceive in the context of task fulfillment. Organizations also reflect numerous values ​​that can be crucial for the use of culture hacks. For example, the working atmosphere, the prevailing trust, the practiced appreciation, the positive atmosphere, the cooperative togetherness—also and especially between different teams and departments—play a major role. If, for example, a climate dominated by mistrust prevails, the use of numerous culture hacks is ruled out from the outset, the good intention behind these culture hacks would neither be seen nor recognized. The management, as the group of people who will primarily drive the culture hacks within the cultural change initiative, must develop a good sense for the organizational context. A maturity model is suitable for this, with which the necessary and priority approach points can be identified. The joint evaluation of the maturity level, for example in the context of workshops or coaching, as carried out in Sect. 4.1, represents a proven and recommended approach. Some possible criteria for determining the maturity level can be found in Fig. 3.3. The maturity model presented is divided into a 6-point scale. Both the criteria and the chosen model can and should of course be adapted to one’s own needs and company customs. The most important finding of this process lies in the confirmation or verification of the usually existing intuition. An explanation of these internal, often diffuse assumptions, may, however, reveal some distortions and possible misconceptions—especially in the intersubjective approach. At the same time, this instrument makes it possible to work

very weak

weak

Empathy Communicaon skills Competence Risk-taking Courage Resilience Incenves We-Orientaon …

Fig. 3.3   Organizational maturity criteria

average

good

very good

excellent

3.5  Requirements for the Effective use of Culture Hacks

47

on the further development of corporate culture and, above all, does not allow the users of culture hacks to blindly run into potentially poisoned situations or taboo areas. The evaluation of the maturity level is primarily indicative, it is about a rough location of the current status. The possible insights and conclusions are as follows: • What organizational conditions currently prevail? • In which areas does the use of certain culture hacks appear to be inappropriate? • Which organizational measures should be taken before the use of culture hacks to create a constructive climate and conditions? • To what extent could the organization be stretched by the use of culture hacks? The goal of the evaluation of organizational maturity is primarily to provide the most sustainable image and a robust assessment of whether the selected culture hacks can actually have their optimizing effect. In any case, a possibly counterproductive effect should be avoided. Often one will come to the insight and assessment that the time for the use of certain culture hacks is not yet given. The mere indications of possible optimizations justify the effort to deal with organizational maturity.

3.5.2 Personal Maturity The actors of culture hacks are always individuals. The role of those who want to use culture hacks also has certain requirements for personal disposition. Culture hacks always touch the emotional level of interpersonal relationships. The systematic use of culture hacks is always new territory, experiences are still lacking, a resilient, situationally spontaneous adequate course of action and reaction would be very desirable. In addition, the use of culture hacks requires courage and fortitude. Courage, to consciously expose oneself to rather unpleasant situations at first and to take this decisive step to do so. Fortitude, as it is better expressed in the term courage (Latin cor = the heart), means taking the heart in one’s own hand in good faith and crossing one’s own state striving for immediate coherence in order to enable a better state for the organization. Temporary personal well-being and staying in one’s own comfort zone are subordinate to the organizational development and growth. At least this behavior can be expected from the management, although this is often supported by training and coaching. Personal maturity does not mean coolness or aloofness here, but sovereignty combined with empathy towards the affected colleagues. The assessment of personal “maturity” can also be well done in a maturity model. We are by no means advocating that managers be subjected to a public test, but even the individual’s own involvement with certain personal factors can show in which areas further development may be needed. Of course, the numerous personality tests and analyses available on the market (for example, according to Reiss, Big 5, DISG, Insights, and many others) can also provide good and complementary information.

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3  Achieving the Best Effect—When and Where to Use Them?

Culture Hacks always have a pronounced communication component that can be further developed through training and practice. Of course, personal values, beliefs, sense of meaning, etc. also play an important role, these factors concern the development of personality per se and therefore differ individually. In any case, an empathetic, appreciative, trusting, and constructive approach supports the application of Culture Hacks with the desired success. In Fig. 3.4 some properties are exemplarily listed which should also be adapted to the individual and organizational conditions. The same applies to the maturity model used. Individual adaptation is also required here. The ratings in this model are mainly indicative. The following conclusions can be drawn from this: • Which factors are well developed and speak for the use of Culture Hacks? • What further personal development is still needed and how can this be achieved through measures? • Which types of Culture Hacks can be used immediately, are to be valued as congruent with the personality, for which should caution still be exercised? We recommend that you address and develop this personal maturity model, as well as the organizational one, in the qualification measures and have it evaluated there. In any case, this makes it possible to demonstrate a realistic scope of action that promises greater security in dealing with culture hacks.

very weak

weak

Trust Construcveness in dealing Appreciaon in dealing Competence framework and transfer Transparency Communicaon style

Corporate culture as a strategic goal Adequate system of sancons …

Fig. 3.4   Criteria of personal maturity

average

good

very good

excellent

References

49

References Byron K, Mitchell S (2002) Lieben was ist. Wie vier Fragen Ihr Leben verändern können. Arkana, München Die Presse (2020) Zeit zu gehen: lukaschenko hat kein Gespür mehr für sein Volk. https://www. diepresse.com/5854628/zeit-zu-gehen-lukaschenko-hat-kein-gespur-mehr-fur-sein-volk. Accessed 6 Sept 2020 Dweck C (2017) Mindset. Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential. Robinson, London Robbins A (2004) Grenzenlose Energie – Das Powerprinzip: Wie Sie Ihre persönlichen Schwächen in positive Energie verwandeln. Ullstein, Berlin

4

Preparing Culture Hacks for Success

Abstract

This chapter deals with the topic of how Culture Hacks can be successfully designed. This includes two aspects in particular: the qualifications and competence that the person using them should have. The task for companies is to provide the right support framework. The use of Culture Hacks is trainable, as is demonstrated by hints for the design of further education programmes and also by a hint at possible coaching support. This latter should be particularly helpful. An excursus on the role and power of “habits” and their possible changes provides helpful insights into their analysis and the change process. Concrete tips for changing behaviour in everyday working life are set out in some recommendations. The explanations finally shed light on methodological support options for the successful use of Culture Hacks. On the one hand, a process analysis helps to identify possible intervention points, on the other hand it is shown how the entire process of constructing Culture Hacks can be supported by tools. This includes the analysis, prioritisation and derivation of relevant Culture Hacks that are to have a sustainable effect. Culture Hacks should be implemented professionally in practice. This includes the claim to carry out the entire framework of the concept and introduction on as secure a basis as possible. This includes the inclusion of research findings, but also the analysis of practical requirements and finally an integrative view of solution-oriented approaches. This chapter outlines the qualifying framework—which competences appear to be necessary, how can they be imparted and acquired and finally which tools can support this process.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_4

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4  Preparing Culture Hacks for Success

4.1 Qualification and Competence If you want to promote a sustainably successful corporate culture with the use of Culture Hacks, the complexity of the task should not be underestimated. Many Culture Hacks may initially appear relatively simple, even trivial, but do not be tempted to “implement them on the side” and use them, because all of them have consequences at the individual, group and even organizational level. In a later stage and with corresponding organizational maturity, this will become increasingly possible, but not at the beginning of this process. Because what looks so simple and easy requires good preparation—and it always pays off. Which qualifications and competences are now required to use Culture Hacks successfully in practice? First of all, the following knowledge and skills should be available to users: • Knowledge of the desired corporate culture and its foundation; • Knowledge of the current state of corporate culture throughout the organization and the addressed subunit; • Ability to derive relevant Culture Hacks, that is, to determine the deviation from the actual culture to the target culture and, based on this, to formulate corresponding Culture Hacks; • Ability to reliably assess the current mindset of employees in order to prevent both under- and, above all, overloading of the system, because successful Culture Hacks require reflection by those affected; • Knowledge and ability to communicatively apply the repertoire of Culture Hacks; • Knowledge and ability to respond sovereignly to unintended and unexpected reactions; • Ability to deal resiliently with setbacks.

The requirements for the qualification of employees can be derived from this sketchy canon. It seems important to point out first of all that the effort required for this is very manageable, we are talking about several hours to a few half-days, which can be acquired and practiced in workshops or in coaching. Likewise, these skills can also be acquired independently and integrated into the framework outlined here with the existing skills. Excursus: Habits

The average person touches their face spontaneously about 400 to 800 times a day. Depending on the current circumstances, this number fluctuates considerably. This

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4.1  Qualification and Competence

high reflexive frequency has certainly surprised most of us, that’s over 20 times an hour. This unconscious process is called habit, it is generally beyond conscious control. This lesson from the Corona times was probably heard by most of us. And that’s exactly what it’s all about here: What are habits, how do they arise—and above all, how can they be unlearned again? 40% of our daily actions are not based on conscious decisions, but on routine habits (Duhigg 2018). So what are some concrete examples of habits? It starts with something as simple as brushing your teeth, it’s the way you reach for a cigarette, a cup of coffee or a piece of chocolate, it’s the way you shift gears while driving. We do something without thinking about it beforehand, or how to do it. In an organizational context, these are all the things we don’t really think about anymore. Examples: How do you greet each other? What is the way you interact with each other and what is the tone? What is the role of humor? Politeness? How do you react to criticism, is dissent even desired? How is the quality of the handshake internally, the commitment and reliability? How do you support each other in the collegiality? Or do you work more against each other? Do you trust each other, across teams and departmental boundaries, or is self-protection more important? How are employees involved in decision-making processes? Is there an open communication or do rumors dominate? Are internal rules always followed or is there a mentality of “a little bit is still okay”? How is gratitude? How are successes celebrated or is everyone looking for a scapegoat? How is the coffee break spent? Are there any rituals at lunchtime? We see that it includes and permeates the way we do something—always and everywhere. All of this is not in any process description, but it dominates our working day and characterizes an organization far more than what is in organizational charts and documented process flows. They are learned individual and collective practices that are no longer questioned. Habits arise because the brain wants to save energy, because it is constantly looking for ways to make less effort. Automatisms and routines form such energysaving processes. But habits are not destiny, they can be ignored, changed or even replaced. Habits are generally expressed in a habit loop, as shown in Fig. 4.1.

Smulus

Roune

Fig. 4.1   Schematic expression of habit

Reward

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4  Preparing Culture Hacks for Success

Routines can also be seen as the organizational memory. In individual experience, habits never disappear. They can be activated again and again. The problem is that the brain cannot distinguish between good and bad habits, so the bad habit always lies in ambush without our conscious activation and waits for its trigger. Habits are stored in the basal ganglia in the brain (Duhigg 2018). Habits are powerful, but they are also prone to failure. People can change more easily—or only then—if they are involved in social groups that make change possible (Duhigg 2018, p. 123). When people join groups in which change appears possible, the chances that it will actually lead to such changes increase. Alcoholics Anonymous is the best example of this. Sometimes, however, only one person is needed to make change credible. “Changes take place in dealing with other people, they appear real when we can see them in the eyes of other people” (ibid., 124). In companies, of course, there is a life full of habits next to defined processes and these routines determine the everyday life far more than formal work instructions. All the unwritten, the informal, the one of encounter, communication and collaboration. With what mindset does one encounter each other, how constructive and trusting is the communication, how supportive is the collaboration? This spirit manifesting in it makes the essence of the organization. Processes can achieve and change a lot, but also the way in which one approaches the processes. It is, as the saying goes so beautifully: “It´s not what you say but the way you say it” or “You can say what you like on paper”. Power structures, relationships, networks, conflicts can all overlay and influence processes far more than the mere process steps intended, paper is just patient. In recent years, there are many examples of how, alongside processes, habits have established themselves that were neither officially foreseen nor—according to an equally official reading—desired: the slush funds for bribery at Siemens, the (former) Dax corporation Wirecard with the never-existing billions and impressive investor stories that were all too willingly believed, as well as the role of auditors and supervisory bodies, the years-long failure of Deutsche Bank to adhere to its own compliance requirements with billions in fines as a result, but also the diesel scandal, which has penetrated numerous automobile companies, or the debacle of Boeing with the 737 Max. All companies certainly have the best processes, but habits have led to favours, lack of control, false trust, turning a blind eye, neglecting the necessary care and professional distance, and similar habits-based behaviour has continued to lead to an economic debacle. The surviving companies from this only pointed and short list have all assured that they will change the corporate culture that made such behaviour possible in the first place—and some of them still invoke this even after many years. Culture change is not an easy undertaking.

4.1  Qualification and Competence

So habits also play a much bigger role in companies than is widely assumed. They ensure the efficient functioning of all kinds of organisations. These routines are mainly created in and from the past. And that has extreme significance for the functioning of companies: The routines therefore do not correspond to the rational derivation of future goals or strategies at first. They are rather the result of actions that have proven themselves in the past. But these habits can often be dysfunctional, partly even toxic and no longer adequate to the current, present challenges. The goal should be to check the routines for their current adequacy and, if necessary, to derive them from their desired contribution to the envisaged goals. Of course, questioning all institutional habits would overwhelm any organisation, so it is important to find such key habits that can have a corresponding effect, on the one hand to set the process in motion, but above all to radiate it to other routines. Duhigg (2018) explains that key habits, so-called Small Wins, such as the consistent observance of safety regulations, play a very important role, because they create a culture in which the willingness for further change grows and spreads. The time factor should always be taken into account, only the very fewest culture hacks will change behavior and mindset spontaneously, after all, this has often been learned over years and must therefore have a certain time frame of conscious repetition until the new behavior becomes the new habit with the corresponding mindset. The often quoted 60-day formula, which according to it takes an average of 66 days to automate and routine a new behavior (this value varies greatly depending on the strength of the habit), provides a good guideline (Lally 2009). Patience is therefore required. Culture Hacks can fuel a real incubator at the right key habits, the effects on other habits and processes can be manifold. Hardly any culture hack has only isolated effects—the networking of the effects will be the rule. Small Wins lead to those small advantages that can accumulate a surprisingly high effect on the overall result. So they drive a transformative change that contributes to the further development of patterns and thus convinces people that greater success and change are possible. Culture Hacks at selected key qualifications can cause such Small Wins that lead to something big, in the individual not expected and planned, but still desired. At the large American aluminum company Alcoa, for example, the consistent alignment, optimization and compliance with safety regulations as a key habit led to a spiral of success that was set in motion by this (Duhigg 2018). Further small key habits could be, for example, punctuality, reliability, preparation of meetings, compliance with compliance rules or compliance with governance rules.

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Developed habits should therefore be the result of a well-planned process, otherwise toxic, dysfunctional organizational habits can arise. Destructive organizational habits can be seen as the result of management negligence that does not think about corporate culture as a shaping force and leaves it to itself. However, companies are not per se places of harmony and peace, quite the contrary, as an influential study has distilled. Routines are their consequence— somewhat exaggerated—often the “ceasefire between warring parties” (Duhigg 2018)—they secure the functioning, as the two Yale researchers Nelson and Winter (1982) have found in their study. They describe companies as territories of struggle and not as harmoniously cooperating subunits. It is therefore quite advisable to approach seemingly un complicated habits with sensitivity and care, the consequences induced by a change could disturb and shift the prevailing balance system sustainably. Habits make it possible to do something that we can only accomplish with difficulty at first, soon with increasing ease, and finally, after sufficient practice, half mechanically or even almost unconsciously. What can you take away from this? 1. Habits are changeable, both personal and organizational. 2. It takes a clear decision to want to change a habit. 3. Small habits can have a big impact. 4. Use crises as opportunities for change: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”! 5. The belief in the changeability is the most important prerequisite for the real implementation: Believe in changes and carry this certainty of the changeability into your group. 6. Live changeability in front of you, if several from your team follow your lead, the better!

4.1.1 Training In addition to conveying knowledge about the company’s process of cultural change and the use of Culture Hacks, interpersonal skills are of high importance. Some of these can be conveyed theoretically, but formats in which specific case studies can be “rehearsed” are recommended. The emotional density of such interactions can only be experienced in simulations that are close to reality, and through this repeated experimentation and experience, a certain degree of confidence can be learned in dealing with the sketched situations.

4.2 Tools

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A corresponding training in the form of a workshop in small groups (about 6–10 employees) over one or two days should be sufficient to learn a basic competence in dealing with Culture Hacks in a reasonably safe manner.

4.1.2 Coaching Coaching can be designed as an individually or group-oriented (up to 4 employees) “training”. Especially managers will make use of this opportunity (want to). On the other hand, coaching should be established as an accompanying process in the introduction and implementation of Culture Hacks in organizations. Experienced or planned situations can be discussed and tested specifically, the necessary resources identified and conveyed, experiences and reactions reflected, discussed and analyzed for “lessons learned”. Coaching will also give the coachees a sense of security and prepare and reduce the necessary steps and uncertainties in dealing with Culture Hacks. The ongoing coaching effort will take place in the low hour range. External experienced coaches or— depending on the size of the organization—internal consultants and coaches who have a high competence in the field of Culture Hacks are possible coaches.

4.2 Tools Even if the application of Culture Hacks should “en passant”, it requires systematic preparation. What seems natural and easy is usually the result of good preparation and a lot of practice. Methodological support greatly facilitates this process. On the one hand, the targeted use of Culture Hacks is to be located within comprehensive cultural change processes. There, corresponding tools such as diagnosis tools, roadmaps and evaluation instruments are an integral part of cultural change. But the concrete use of Culture Hacks should also be supported by methods and tools and be embedded in corresponding processes. The focus of Culture Hacks is on the operational implementation and stabilization of practices.

4.2.1 Processes Culture Hacks, in the concept used here, manifest themselves in three different typologies, which are also to be handled differently. In any case, their application should not be arbitrary and random, but systematic and process-oriented. On the one hand, Culture Hacks should be integrated into the normal business processes, for example in innovation, customer acquisition or collaboration processes. Everywhere where they can contribute to strengthening the desired corporate culture, they should also be applied.

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

The individual culture factors form the starting point for the use of Culture Hacks. The culture factors are differentiated here: through which strategies, through which measures should they be implemented? At each of these points of contact, it can be systematically analyzed which Culture Hacks could be used to support this cultural strategy or measure.

On the other hand, however, an explicit culture shaping process can be established, which, for example, has its roots in the Culture Excellence Process (Herget 2023). This process with its central activities: • • • • •

Identification of the individual target culture Diagnosis of the current culture Derivation of culture shaping strategies Selection and implementation of measures for culture change Evaluation and optimization of the effectiveness of measures for culture shaping

offers a good basis for identifying effective intervention points for Culture Hacks in each case. The general practices and the mindset can be considered independently of specific culture factors in order to promote the prioritized culture factors. Above all, this approach also allows habits to be addressed that are not reflected in individual processes, as already mentioned. With this approach, the generic culture shaping process is considered, it is more open than the approach described above, which is oriented towards specific, formulated culture factors. 

The orientation towards the generic culture shaping process opens up the perspective for new things. What is culture-relevant or will become relevant in the future, but is not yet located? With this approach, all the unwritten habits in the company can be addressed. Culture Hacks used in this way support the creative process of culture work.

The systematic integration of Culture Hacks into the various phases of culture design provides a first, rough orientation, which can provide a framework in further refinements. This systematic and process-oriented approach provides a good starting point, which will ensure an overview, orientation and the basis for a holistic approach. This approach is taken up in Sect. 7.2 and operationalized.

4.2.2 Methods and Instruments A tool-based approach considerably simplifies the design and application of Culture Hacks. A first instrument, a possible process map, provides a suitable first point of contact. The systematic analysis concept for the creation of Culture Hacks offers another

References Fig. 4.2   Methods portfolio for the design and implementation of Culture Hacks

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Procedure concept for the identification and derivation of relevant culture hacks

Process map of culture design to identify starting points for culture hacks Typology of Culture Hacks

Toolbox

Culture Hacks Inventory

Dynamic design of culture hacks

Roadmap of the Culture Hacks strategy

valuable aid. The typology of Culture Hacks and a first inventory of tools, formats and methods make it possible to select promising Culture Hacks in a supported manner. If this inventory is related to possible questions for which the methods can contribute to the solution, a toolbox is created, which supports a systematic selection process. An additional roadmap ensures a structured and phase-oriented concept. It represents a blueprint for the dynamic use of Culture Hacks and also simplifies this process. An overview and summary of possible and suitable tools—which of course can be extended—can be found in Fig. 4.2.

References Duhigg C (2018) Die Macht der Gewohnheit. Warum wir tun, was wir tun. Piper, München Herget J (2023) Shaping corporate culture. For sustainable business success. Springer, Berlin Lally Ph, van Jaarsveld C, Potts H, Wardle J (2009) How are habits formed: modelling habit formation in the real world. Eur J Soc Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674 Nelson R, Winter S (1982) An evolutionary theory of economic change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

5

Successful Implementation—How Culture Hacks Come into the System

Abstract

This chapter presents different views and concepts of how Culture Hacks can become a matter of course in the inventory of cultural change interventions. Culture Hacks must be introduced into the organizational system, on the one hand they arise as part of the culture strategy and its implementation, on the other hand they include numerous approaches, methods and tools that are to be used. It is important to create the right paradigm for Culture Hacks. The basic principles of using Culture Hacks are demonstrated with further examples. A focus of the explanations is on creating fearfree, psychologically protected spaces that support experimental action. The explanations in this chapter conclude with indications of successful patterns that help ensure a productive and constructive use of Culture Hacks in the company. The concrete use of culture hacks in companies should be well thought out and planned. Some culture hacks can certainly be tried out at first, they can also be successful in achieving the intended effect. Nevertheless, successes—but also failures—would then be more accidental, an evaluation would take place at best rudimentarily, a multiplication capacity would be limited. However, in order not to be misunderstood here, many hacks can be started on one’s own initiative and also lead to great success in their effect. However, a planned, coordinated approach with clear goals for the desired corporate culture is preferable. Why? Because it is relatively easy and without too much effort. It’s not about short-term effects alone, but about the sustainable implementation of a desired corporate culture. This is not a sprint, but a marathon that can include many sprints! The good news is that the reward is continuous, not just at the end. Culture hacks are always introduced into the organization system by people. The beginning will usually come from the management—they should introduce the culture hacks in their respective areas of responsibility. It is particularly important to ensure that © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_5

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the culture hacks can develop their intended result, they must be compatible with the system despite their irritating effect. This must not be a contradiction. Creating a playground that allows for the experimental testing of some hacks can certainly be part of the postulated strategy. The following are some tips that can support the successful implementation of culture hacks in companies.

5.1 The Dose Creates the Effect! Corporate culture represents and at the same time shapes the existing mindset. A corporate culture develops, is strengthened by new events, weakened or also changed. Its perception and interpretation cannot be grasped immediately and directly. We have defined culture hacks as pattern breaks in a currently prevailing corporate culture. This means that they are then taken into account and used when they are to initiate or reinforce new or changed behavior or when a behavior that is not (anymore) desired and not congruent with the corporate culture is to be discontinued. However, this intervention does not take place in a manipulative or fault-finding manner, but is based on and relies on reflection, insight, recognition and learning processes. However, the use of culture hacks should be dosed and by no means handled inflationarily. With too many, often simultaneous interventions, there is a great risk of personal or organizational overload. The search for homeostatic states always also requires phases in which the new or changed “set” can take place. Tension and relaxation should be in balance. This applies not only to individuals, but also to organizations alike. In the permanent state of constant innovation, stress with negative consequences for health and the climate of cooperation will only arise in the long term. A targeted intervention should also follow a prioritization and be focused on influencing selected culture factors. Otherwise, the risk of too many, possibly tiring, scattering losses threatens. Culture hacks are not a shot from the shotgun, they address precisely the desired culture factors, which are pursued over a certain period of time until they develop into habits. Of course, they can and will also have other positive spillover effects on other behavior and habits. Culture hacks are, in addition to the other measures in the culture change process (compare the model in Fig. 1.1), targeted, punctual, partly spontaneous interventions with the intention of stabilizing a desired future vision of value creation and cooperation. To do this, it is helpful to introduce culture hacks as an important instrument when rolling out the new, desired corporate culture. This prepares the constructive basis for them to be able to unfold their effect even better. However, the often desired element of surprise is not alleviated. Culture hacks have their place in the fixed canon of measures, as illustrated in the model of corporate culture. There is still one thing that is not exactly trivial:

5.2  Systematics—From Puzzle to Mosaic

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Culture Hacks should never be expressed as personal criticism, although this is often the case in interpersonal communication situations. Culture Hacks always address the specific behavior in the organizational system.

Of course, it is evident that this will be a narrow line in practice, which is often not traversed with bravado. Nevertheless, the intention should always be clear, it is always about the desired and (hopefully) carried future corporate culture by all!

5.2 Systematics—From Puzzle to Mosaic It would be wrong to assume, as the name suggests, that Culture Hacks could be used as an instrument of cultural change from time to time and without any planning. Culture Hacks are supposed to appear spontaneous, unprepared, random and due to the situation, but they are not—at least at the beginning. With Culture Hacks, the achievement of a Big Picture is aimed at, Culture Hacks represent the connection between the desired culture and the operational, current action and thinking. This should be brought to mind again and again so that the Culture Hacks retain their important instrument character and are used specifically. This process takes place top-down: from the culture strategy to the use of specific methods and other interventions. Culture Hacks are a precisely assigned puzzle piece in the entire, well-ordered culture mosaic. One may be tempted many times to implement an apparently interesting hack that also seems to be easy to use immediately and directly in practice. This can and should be done in justified cases and situations in order to gain experience and improve motivation and commitment. However, often a patchwork is created by such activities, because each new intervention affects the system organization. If you follow the corporate culture model presented in the first chapter, this provides a framework that leads to the desired corporate culture in a targeted manner. It therefore seems more advisable to allow and practice experimental freedom, but at the same time to proceed focused. Isolated Culture Hacks can, but will not usually promote the prioritized culture factors directly. If you want to proceed systematically, it is recommended to create the context for the desired corporate culture. Culture Hacks that address the prioritized corporate culture factors according to the roadmap are more likely to lead to the desired corporate culture—and that without detours and probably also more sustainable, as they can be supported more broadly. If possible, the respective Culture Hacks should also be post-processed in order to clarify their usefulness again and to show their factual basis. The understanding of the advantages of the new behavior for the organization and also for the individual supports the process of acclimatization. Culture Hacks should not be imposed against the will of those affected, this would not make their (forced) effect sustainable. What should happen if the Culture Hacks fail to achieve their intended effect? Then one should think about additional Culture Hacks that can be more obvious and more

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effective in their effect. The procedure for this is discussed in Sect. 7.2. Of course, provided that an evaluation takes place, why the Culture Hacks did not achieve the desired result. Maybe they were just not the right ones, less suitable or their message was simply not understood—time to try something else. 

Culture Hacks are most effective when used in combination with other measures to shape corporate culture.

5.3 Manage the System, Not the People—Hack the System, Not the People This also follows the paradigm “Manage the system, not the people” formulated in Management 3.0 (Appelo 2011, p. 154). The postulate here is that every employee can manage himself—if he knows exactly what it is all about and what is expected of him. So there is no “blame game”, it is not paternalistic and directed at someone in asymmetry, but rather on the observance of common, beneficial behaviour and this is also demanded. However, it is worth trying to walk this tightrope and, in modern working worlds, hardly anything is more demotivating than to experience personal devaluations based on a paternalistic understanding of the power asymmetry. This violates the so important principles of autonomy, appreciation and self-efficacy. In contrast, coaching approaches are gaining importance, which start with the potential of the employee to draw the lessons from inadequate behaviour himself, to recognise the problem and the target conflict with the desired corporate culture and to look for ways and approaches to align the corresponding behaviour “system-compliant”. The assumption is that, if the sense behind it is understood—and actively carried along—a change in behaviour will be easier. It will then be perceived neither as manipulative nor as imposed. People will always strive to adapt their behaviour if they also benefit from it personally and not just from the system organisation. It is therefore always advisable to pursue the goal of making Culture Hacks a perceived win-win situation. Even if this is sometimes associated with a slight time delay until the positive system logic will be comprehensible for all involved. So how can this be realised, using Culture Hacks in such a way that the system and not the person is “hacked”? 

The Culture Hack should always refer to the behaviour in the context of the specific operational processes. It is not about “faulty” behavior of people with a cause that has to be sought in the personal, but always about inadequate, possibly not yet routinised processes in value creation and service provision. Admittedly, this is and remains a difficult balancing act, the difference is often only perceived as artificial, but there is a difference that makes a significant difference!

5.4  Determine Level

65

As noted, this ridge in perception is narrow, yet passable. The language used should be based on the concept of nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosenberg (2016). It does not start from blame, but from the individual’s perception and feeling and the role one has to play as a leader or employee in responsibility for this process. In short: • A Culture Hack should never be a personal accusation. • A Culture Hack always addresses an desired and “better” business behavior from which the whole system benefits. • A Culture Hack always asks about the adequacy of the specific behavior in the context of business performance with the aim of adapting the behavior shown. A welcome positive side effect of this perspective is, in particular, that the use of Culture Hacks takes away much of the fear for many managers (and employees) to emotionally too much into the personal life of the employee and to strain his comfort zone. If the aim of Culture Hacks is always seen as helping to bring about a desired corporate culture—and for this all employees, but especially the managers are called—the “correct” approach to culture hacks is given with a positive intention, which will also support creatively in finding the right Culture Hacks.

5.4 Determine The Level Corporate culture is sensibly introduced in companies in a cascade top-down. In the respective clusters, the managers are therefore responsible for the implementation of the desired corporate culture. The targeted use of Culture Hacks is therefore, as already explained in Sect. 1.5, to be planned and also implemented by them. At the beginning of the use of Culture Hacks, the level will therefore be top-down. In later phases, however, Culture Hacks will also be used on the same level, that is, peer-to-peer. But also from employees to superiors, the application is quite possible. However, this requires mature organizations. The creation and implementation of corporate culture therefore remains primarily the task of leaders, as the role model effect is still the decisive determinant of a lived corporate culture. If, in the further course of Culture Hacks, a peer-to-peer level and a bottom-up approach will also become possible—this will be particularly evident in mature organizations that the Culture Hacks have finally arrived in the company. This is impressively documented by the fact that all employees feel responsible for the corporate culture and also “dare” to address the behavior of leaders, for example, as not cultureappropriate. An example of this can be found in Herget (2023, p. 45):

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5  Successful Implementation—How Culture Hacks Come into the System Example of a Bottom-Up Culture Hack

A conversation sequence from a routine meeting of the project team Corporate Culture with the board (CEO) of an internationally operating corporation (Purps-Purdigol 2019, transcribed accordingly): Team: 

“We want to ask the employees about the culture problems in the holding.”

CEO: 

“Nonsense, we’ve been doing the culture change for a long time, we know that, we don’t need it.”

Team: 

“Yes, but we want that, we think it makes sense, we like it.”

CEO: 

“I don’t want that, haven’t you understood? I don’t want you to survey the employees.”

Team: 

“Hey, CEO, are you crazy? You said we should make the process for you, you empowered us to do it. We’re just doing it.”

And the team left the meeting. How did the story continue? The team made the survey and came back to the same room with the results. And the first thing the CEO said was: CEO: 

 Listen, I first have to apologize for telling you not to do something where “ I previously asked you to take over this process sovereignty. I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter what came out of it, I’m sorry. And I say this very consciously in the same room because I don’t want the impression to arise that I wanted no one to notice. And I have to apologize to the whole board again, not just for myself, how does the board come to not say, jeepers creepers …” ◄

Admittedly, the example gives an unusually massive Culture Hack again, which even goes from the employees to the superiors. At the same time, it makes the possibility of this instrument clear: The desired behavior, as it is anchored in the mindset, is confronted with the actually practiced behavior. The learning consequence is also very clear from the example. The intervention took place not as a consciously set Culture Hack, but had the same effect. The different types of culture hacks will usually experience an unequal diffusion in the organizations. First, the artifact-induced Culture Hacks will be picked up by the employees, the use of the strategy-oriented ones, especially towards managers, will require some joint learning processes. In any case, Culture Hacks demand a trusting relationship with each other. The concept of “psychological safety” as brought into focus by Edmondson (2014) is indispensable: No employee must fear that the use of Culture Hacks could lead to personal

5.5  From Individual Hacks to Team Hacks

67

disadvantages. Discrimination, revenge or retaliation must be ruled out, otherwise the culture hacks will not be used by employees in the bottom-up or peer-to-peer direction. If one increasingly understands the overall responsibility of leadership and management as the overall task of all employees, as postulated in Management 3.0, the use of culture hacks should be adapted by all employees over time. However, here too, no too high expectations should be set, this process will take a lot of time and positive experiences. 

Culture Hacks are not reserved for a top-down approach. They serve to demand culturally appropriate behavior from all employees.

5.5 From Individual Hacks to Team Hacks Culture Hacks are usually introduced into the system by courageous leaders. It is important that they spread throughout the company if you want to use Culture Hacks systematically to strengthen the corporate culture and as an immediate instrument for shaping the corporate culture. Otherwise, if the use of Culture Hacks remains only with a few leaders, they will soon be given a rather negative reputation as “culture police”. It is also recommended to enrich the introduction of Culture Hacks with playful elements, which gives the whole thing a certain lightness and immediate graspability in dealing with this topic. This will be relatively easy to accomplish with artifact-induced Culture Hacks. For example, a new method or instrument can be introduced and tested for suitability every month. This gives the whole thing an experimental character and opens the culture to new experiences. It is also sensible, as repeatedly emphasized in this book, to consider the use as an coordinated action and to start with a certain momentum after joint preliminary work (see Chap. 4). Not as an avalanche and actionism, but sparingly and sporadically, yet continuously perceptible as a significant instrument of cultural work. Culture Hacks should always be considered in relation to other measures, as proposed in the integrated architecture-culture model (Chap. 1). The artifact-induced hacks are particularly well suited as door openers—they should therefore be very promoted, because in many cases it is enough to suggest simple methods for trying out. Even small-seeming methods can significantly increase the willingness to change when something new is tried out and perceived as successful. Of course, the subcultures present in a company should always be taken into account in their different absorption potential. Not everywhere do all Culture Hacks fit equally well, in some subcultures maybe only very few. The determination of the organizational maturity (Sect. 3.5.1) should be able to provide a good answer if the use is not perceived as problematic per se.

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

A broad involvement of employees, a shared selection of seemingly suitable Culture Hacks gives the whole the contour of a project carried by all, a welcome shared competence and responsibility. New Culture acks then act as teamwork and encourage active participation.

5.6 From Empowerment to Encouragement One of the important goals in organizations is the independently acting employee with corresponding autonomy and assignment of corresponding responsibility. This already high goal is not enough for a successful use of Culture hHcks by managers either. An important component is also the brave, determined action. This is easier said than done. “Courage cannot be bought” says the wise saying and refers to potential personal limitations. The organization must therefore create framework conditions that promote and reward brave and determined behavior. Because this desired—and indispensable for the use of Culture Hacks—behavior risks a lot: the displeasure of employees, the “disturbance” of the system, personal consequences, which can create various forms such as disputes, insults, bullying and a lot of stress in the system. Therefore, the possibility of occasional failure in the use of Culture Hacks must be possible. The use of Culture Hacks therefore usually requires a certain amount of courage— to a different extent, but an organizational irritation with the goal of initiating a pattern break is more than just following the normal course of business. How can these abilities and courage be promoted in everyday work life? The concept of psychological safety provides an excellent framework. Excursus: The Concept of Psychological Safety

The concept of psychological safety at work is mainly based on research by Amy Edmondson, which she founded in 1999. The starting point was a research project at Google (Aristotle Project) with the research question of what distinguishes successful teams from average or poor teams. The results were quite surprising and quickly found their way into practice. The core is the concept of psychological safety. This is based on the shared conviction of all team members combined with a trust that the safety in cooperation and communication within the group is guaranteed and that interpersonal risks, such as being embarrassed or exposed, are dismissed, rejected or not taken seriously, do not exist and do not occur under any circumstances. Sanctions of any kind must neither be feared nor other negative consequences expected. Behind this are the values lived ​​ in the team (and the organization) such as trust, respect, constructiveness and appreciation. This connection between the perception of psychological safety and stronger participation

5.6  From Empowerment to Encouragement

and the Encouragement to openly and without personal risks involving their own considerations of entrepreneurial activity could be demonstrated in several studies. This applies to the dissemination of information, the expression of criticism or proactively bringing in new ideas (Edmondson 2014). This immediately takes us to the Culture Hacks. They are new for the organization, they often leave familiar or expected paths, their functioning is not guaranteed, they can also fail in use and not be accepted by the employees. This means that a willingness to experiment is necessary without having to fear that in the event of occasional failure, negative consequences have to be borne. This connection can also be found at the level of the entire organization: Psychological safety in organizations leads to measurable effects with regard to organizational learning, exchange of knowledge and organizational performance in general. The current state of the perceived psychological safety in the team or organization can be quickly and quite reliably crystallized through simple surveys, such as conversations with individual employees or teams. The good thing about this concept is: Psychological safety can be developed. We are helped by a double effect—psychological safety provides an excellent basis for the use of culture hacks, at the same time it can be specifically promoted by the use of Culture Hacks. In order to make it a positive chicken-and-egg event, the following procedures are recommended: 1. Determine the level of psychological safety in the organization as a whole and in the affected organizational part by means of surveys, interviews or group discussions. 2. In personal meetings and conferences, explicitly ask people to openly bring up questions and criticism. 3. Lead by example as a manager, surprise your employees by giving a very provocative assessment of the current situation. Also show personal concern. 4. Explicitly thank people for their input! 5. Demonstrate that the input, whether criticism or suggestions, will have consequences and will not be lost in everyday business. Report results! 6. Keep the momentum going. 7. Stop intimidating comments from employees in their tracks. As a manager, do not accept that an open, safe, and constructive conversation atmosphere is hindered or disparaged by anyone. 8. Be a role model for a trusting and respectful relationship with each other! Here too, being a role model counts. Without demonstrating psychological safety, it will certainly not work.

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There are many tried and tested workplace instruments available for promoting empowerment and encouragement. The tried and tested model of the • Can • Want • May can be used as a basis for consideration. The “can” is aimed at the corresponding competence, which can be learned, for this purpose, various concepts of qualification by training and coaching, as already explained in the last chapter. The “want” starts with the identification with the company, the desired corporate culture and the motivation to want to achieve this goal. This is certainly helped by a corresponding consideration in the workplace reward system with corresponding target agreements. Likewise, this helps a comprehensive involvement and a great deal of autonomy in the development of this concept. A strong involvement usually also promotes the motivation to implement the concept and not to be discouraged by the first difficulties. Rewards, for example, by immediate “Kudos” (praise or recognition, comparable to the French Chapeau!), which can already be an instrument of Culture Hacks, offer themselves, for example, best. The “may” finally requires an explicit authorization and request to use Culture Hacks as a desired workplace culture instrument. A correspondingly proclaimed expectation in the organization will be very conducive to the dissemination of Culture Hacks. This is already done as part of the adopted culture strategy, so that no employee should have any doubts about it. However, a central problem that still exists for most people remains: the fear of failure, the fear that a Culture Hack will not be understood, misunderstood or even interpreted as an attack. Therefore, it will be necessary to create the psychologically safe space described above. Yes, Culture Hacks can—and will—also fail and not lead to the desired results, but they provide valuable learning experiences about what works or (not) yet. In an open, trusting space that actively calls for experiments and consciously includes failure as an important and inevitable part of learning processes, existing fears should be openly discussed in preparation and not tabooed in case of failed Hacks, but valued as a valuable learning experience. These fears will be a reality for most at the beginning of this process of introducing Culture Hacks. Rather, in a joint acceptance of a failure, an improvement in trust is even possible if it is stood up for and the causes are openly and transparently analyzed in order to learn from the future and jointly search for challenges and problem areas with future solutions. This should also promote the remaining, very important little bit of courage, also by reducing possible fears. Here, the term courage fits better. Because it is always about a good cause, about the sustainable strengthening of the entire company and everyone should engage for that. Above all, however, the first quick wins, which will occur quickly, will lead to a more secure and self-evident handling of Culture Hacks.

5.7  Where to Start—And Then What?

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71

In any case, it is recommended to start with simpler Culture Hacks and only after first good experiences to also step into more difficult-seeming culture hacks. Only this combination of empowerment (can, want, may) with encouragement (courage) will help to overcome this gap between concept and action.

5.7 Where to Start—And Then What? When Culture Hacks are used strategically, they are developed as a genuine part of culture change within the framework of a culture strategy. Many of the Culture Hacks— especially those oriented towards nudging and artifact-induced—are usually brought into the company, they rarely come from the company itself. If they are understood and located as part of the culture strategy, it is mainly up to the leaders to implement them into the organizational system. The following, partly already discussed in other contexts, hints are recommended to ensure sustainability: • good qualification and preparation; • systematically order Culture Hacks according to their presumed level of difficulty, starting with the easier ones; • promote the receptivity and willingness of the affected organizational subunit through information and communication, remove the element of surprise—even though it will of course be there at first—and thus also achieve the corresponding effect; • evaluate experiences with Culture Hacks in the peer group or in coaching, positive as well as negative; • measure and evaluate success, the more informal the better, highlight successes, create narratives, support a corresponding stimulating framing, which will significantly increase acceptance; • demand and maintain an open, experimental, trust- and security-based and supported self-image in the organizational sub-area—wherever and whenever possible.



This evolutionary development and alignment of corporate culture with the help of Culture Hacks will create the conditions to live it and anchor it sustainably in corporate life. They will quickly become the tangible embodiment of a new corporate culture. In addition to soloists of change, it will always also require the rapid adaptation by further leaders and employees to initiate a broad movement, so as not to create merely an isolated solution.

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5.8 Designing Dramaturgy and Blueprint All supporting instruments, playing through simulations, designing potential action and reaction patterns play a big role. The risk for the user should be reduced as much as possible. This serves—and this should be considered in the context of qualification measures and coachings—the realistic design of patterns and possible processes. Culture Hacks are often associated with emotionally stressful situations. Anticipating these makes it easier to use in concrete, operational reality. It makes sense to stage Culture Hacks from a director’s chair, to try out alternatives, to simulate scene changes—as a “dry run” to better anticipate possible reactions. At the end of this chapter, some promising practices and action patterns will be illuminated and highlighted, which the companies can orient themselves to. These potential success patterns can be summarized in the following six points: 1. Prepare tools and tools for cultural change well with the active participation of managers and employees. They provide security in the construction of relevant, promising Culture Hacks. 2. Try out Culture Hacks in safe environments (workshops, coachings), practice and reflect on their use. 3. Offer coaching that does not leave managers and employees alone, prepare, reflect and learn from individual experiences. 4. Collect, roll out and establish good practices, prepare and use them as training material. Convincing successes from your own company are twice as convincing. Use the multiplicability and scalability of successful Culture Hacks consciously. 5. Ensure experience exchange, exchange practices within the company as well as between departments and teams. Live transparency and communication—also use failures for learning processes. 6. Ensure the visibility of successful Culture Hacks in the company.



Culture Hacks are pattern breaks in the organization, they are not self-runners. However, if they are used, they develop into powerful catalysts for cultural change—and that with relatively few additional resources. Adequate Culture Hacks work and the organization will undoubtedly prosper. Just be brave, start!

References

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References Appelo J (2011) Management 3.0. Leading agile developers, developing agile leaders. Pearson, London Edmondson SC (2014) The science of successful organizational change: how leaders set strategy, change behavior, and create an agile culture. Wiley, Hoboken Herget J (2023) Shaping corporate culture. For sustainable business success. Springer, Berlin Purps-Pardigol S (2019) Kulturwandel 4.0 bei der Otto Group: Tobias Krüger im Gespräch mit Sebastian Purps-Pardigol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCNqvdd5Pu0&t=1971s. Accessed 11 Nov 2019 Rosenberg MB (2016) Gewaltfreie Kommunikation: eine Sprache des Lebens. Junfermann, Paderborn

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Inventory of Culture Hacks—Some Further Ideas

Abstract

This chapter characterizes numerous Culture Hacks by way of example. It follows the typology already introduced, which distinguishes between strategy-oriented, nudging-oriented and artifact-induced Culture Hacks. First, examples of strategy-oriented  Culture Hacks for three selected culture factors (collaboration, customer orientation and innovation) are presented. It is important here that there can be no Culture Hacks off the shelf in this category—they always have to be individually constructed by the company, as they are always derived from the discrepancy between desired behavior and actually shown practices. With the nudging-oriented Culture Hacks, several different culture hacks are shown in order to deepen them. They should also serve as an incentive to develop company-specific nudges. Finally, examples of artifact-induced Culture Hacks follow, including numerous tips & tricks that arise from innovative forms of collaboration. These are also possibilities that arise from new technologies or from new organizational forms. In this section, we would like to present some additional possible Culture Hacks as an additional incentive. We follow the typology presented at the beginning. Such a list can never be exhaustive, it serves above all to first tune and sharpen one’s own search grid. Further references and hints to numerous additional information sources are also listed. The strategy-oriented Culture Hacks are always to be developed individually. The guiding principles are always two aspects: on the one hand the company-specific culture strategy with the corresponding culture factors, on the other hand the divergences in real behaviour that occur in the respective company. These two components, the desired approach with regard to a specific culture factor and the insufficient behaviour of individual employees, entire teams or even departments in the context of task fulfilment, result

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_6

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in the Culture Hacks to be developed and used in each case. So it’s a deductive process. Only a few Culture Hacks are to be listed here by way of example to better illustrate. The situation is different with the other two categories. Nudging is still relatively new in conscious industrial applications. There are constantly reports and publications on new applications and the experiences gained with them. But here too individual nudges can be constructed, the procedure being primarily oriented towards the decision architecture, which can be varied according to one’s own needs. The listed and tested example applications may possibly open the way for further developments and adaptations that can support the path to the desired corporate culture. The third category, artifact-induced Culture Hacks, could be almost endlessly listed here as tips & tricks. The development here is shaped by new organizational paradigms, new technologies and methods, but also by emerging forms of cooperation, for example. The digitalization in particular leads to numerous possible work hacks within the framework of so-called new work, which can also have a culture-forming component and therefore meet the requirements of Culture Hacks.

6.1 Strategy-Oriented Culture Hacks Strategy-oriented Culture Hacks are always individually formed. The starting point is the prioritized culture factors, paying particular attention to whether there is a discrepancy between desired and actual behaviour. Let’s first look at possible question forms that can be used to focus on this discrepancy. How can the methods presented in the first excursus on irritation and other promising communication forms be used concretely in the context of Culture Hacks? The following generic communicative possibilities can, for example, be formed as interventions from the presented framework concept:

• Question the shown behavior: – “If we continue to practice this in this way, will we achieve our formulated goals?” – “Is this behavior really strategy-compliant?” – “Let’s imagine that we would all act and only act like this, where would we end up, would we achieve our goals?” – … • Exaggeration (exaggeration) of the concrete behavior with a presentation of the consequences for the company. • Prolongation of the shown behavior and in-context setting with desired results. • Invert the practiced behavior with the question of consequences.

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• Reminder of the process of decision-making and adoption of the desired behavior—which is obviously not lived here. • Offer help/support: – “What can I do to make the behavior strategy-compliant?” • After justification ask why not act in line with strategy. • After own reaction ask if role reversal were to take place – “What would you do in my place?” In the next step, suitable questions are applied to the specific facts. By way of example, some potentially possible Culture Hacks are listed here with regard to three selected culture factors: customer orientation, collaboration and innovation. Example

Customer orientation: You receive a message from the field service that the important customer X does not feel particularly well treated by the company. The following points are being made: • Calls are returned late, employees are not informed about the last order or about agreements made, • The customer learns about new developments of the company via detours, does not feel regularly informed, is missing information about the company’s product pipeline and product roadmap, • etc. As a manager, you recognize that the culture factor of customer orientation must be lived massively in everyday work life. In addition to the many other measures you may take, you now also know which behaviors of your employees you have to pay attention to and can prepare and practice corresponding Culture Hacks. From now on, you pay more attention to • lack of active customer support: if you notice current cases of poor customer support, you intervene immediately, ask your employees about it and explain the connection between customer orientation as an important culture factor and active customer support, discuss necessary steps to improve customer support • encourage a new format for regular customer events and explore possible content in all conversations … ◄

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Collaboration: As a colleague, you notice that you were not actively informed about a new development in a project by a colleague. However, it was clearly stipulated in the project team that information is not a duty of care, but a duty to bring. You therefore address your colleague immediately, show your concern and ask him to adhere to the rules of the game in the future. ◄ Example

Example Innovation: In a project, something goes wrong in a test, the involved test customer then complains to your superior about this failed process. Your superior then calls you to account and accuses you of being sloppy and insufficiently prepared. You explain to your superior that you were very well prepared and acted according to the prescribed protocol (SOP), that is, the best planned processes, but that the reality test failed for an previously unforeseeable reason. In any case, your knowledge base is now better, you have drawn the lessons and the entire project team would have adapted the project and the protocol accordingly. And you point out that with such innovative projects—and a high degree of innovation orientation is an explicit corporate culture factor—one must also expect that something will happen differently than planned, that mistakes can happen. And you of course regret the customer’s reaction and thank you for the support. You suggest to your superior that at the next meeting you should report in detail about the lessons learned from this project, so that all those involved can learn as much as possible from it. ◄ The above-mentioned selection of relevant questions is quite suitable for immediate development of potential Culture Hacks. But it is important to remember that Culture Hacks serve as a reminder, as an impulse to ensure behaviour in line with corporate culture, it does not replace the conscious pursuit of culture factors and corresponding processes and practices, as they have been developed for this purpose. So it’s not primarily about developing or improving better process flows, that can at most be a welcome side effect (see the suggestion for a customer event in the first example). Culture Hacks should not replace this cultural work, but serve as a reminder of it. The short examples also show that Culture Hhacks can be used in all directions: top-down, peer-to-peer and bottom-up. 

Strategy-oriented Culture Hacks often seem unagitated and unspectacular. However, their effect should not be underestimated when used specifically. These seemingly small, subtle impulses eventually lead to the desired corporate culture in a sustainable way.

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6.2 Nudging-Oriented Culture Hacks Below are some examples of nudging-oriented Culture Hacks with a brief characterisation. The nudge approach can of course also be applied creatively to change processes in organizations (see also Burmester 2016). Effective interventions are set here by nudges that change the everyday behavior of employees. These are based on incentives that support desired socially appropriate behavior or a special decision-making pattern through limited benefits, time pressure, price advantages, transparency, and similar means, in which individual preferences are influenced in decision-making situations. The following four basic principles increase the effectiveness of nudges (Halpern 2015): 1. Make it easy! Information should be presented simply and easily comprehensible. 2. Make it attractive! Nudges should attract attention and make the respective decision attractive to the person. 3. Make it social! The desired behavior should be highlighted by the example of other people. It is worth thinking about networks and collegial relationships. 4. Make it timely! A nudge should enable direct and immediate action. In general, a direct involvement of those affected in the construction process of nudges can be useful. If nudges were developed together with the participants in the change process, they experience a much higher identification and support and lead to a higher motivation to achieve the goal. To avoid suspicion of manipulation from the outset, transparency is helpful. Speak openly about the goal and inform about the specific benefits. Nudge Ideas For More Creative and Productive Meetings

The following nudges can help, for example, to optimize the meeting culture in your organization (Eppler and Kernbach 2018): • Change the standard duration for meetings to 40 minutes (instead of the usual 60 minutes). • Send an agenda with the first item being that everyone must give feedback on certain agenda items of the document sent. This increases discipline and the likelihood that documents will be read before the meeting and not during the meeting. • Place the agenda (including time) during the meeting in a visible place, e.g. on a flipchart, and check off what has already been done. • Place large, visible clocks in the rooms. This has been shown to lead to more time discipline.

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• Do not hold your meetings in too comfortable chairs. Use high bar stool-like chairs or standing tables instead. This makes it more likely to stand up, for example, to visualize things on the flipchart. Standing meetings are also an option. ◄ Anywhere that certain presets or reinforcements influence the decision architecture, we speak of nudging-oriented Culture Hacks. Of course, the distinction to other formats cannot always be clear-cut. More Possible Nudges

• Influence behavior in meeting rooms and encounter areas with different colors, their meanings, and innovative architectural designs. • Create communication-enhancing seating options through new arrangements and furniture designs, offer technologies that support creative meetings and promote group processes. • Deliberately plan coffee corners to create meeting zones and meeting points between different areas. • Offer healthy food in the canteen in the best location, snacks (fruit baskets) and drinks specifically as a measure with a connection to the company values (for example, healthy and efficient employees) in the premises. • Establish opportunities for relaxation rooms, massages, fitness, shared yoga classes or mindfulness rituals. Promote subscriptions for fitness activities. This not only supports the health orientation but also creates spaces for more togetherness among colleagues. • Promote the loyalty of employees through the offer of a company pension scheme, asset building or forms of employee participation. • Experiment with different types and types of meeting courses, from digitally supported to new formats. • Introduce new office concepts from home office to the dissolution of fixed office structures, as Microsoft, for example, propagates within the framework of New Work (Microsoft 2019). • Apply concepts of job rotation as an appropriate measure to get employees out of their familiar environments and bring them together with other colleagues and organizational areas with which there has been little or no contact so far. • Use the role behavior of others (“Your colleagues X and Y have also registered for this further education …”) • Introduce lunch roulette, in which, supported by information systems, people are brought together for a shared lunch who belong to different areas and hierarchical levels. This promotes mutual understanding to a high degree, strengthens the corporate identity and is also very innovation-promoting.

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As we can see from the examples, many of the instruments have been used in variations for a long time in practical operation, which should encourage us to think further and create new offers here. It remains important to always let ourselves be guided by the cultural factors: Which measures can we use to fill these cultural factors with life? Nudging therefore offers a good opportunity to identify and eliminate unproductive organizational habits and collective irrationalism (Burmester 2016). Nudging is now also gaining increasing popularity in digital worlds (for example, to influence shopping behavior through discounts or (artificial) time pressure). Many digital online shops and other offers (hotel, seminar bookings) already use digital nudging very extensively (Weinmann et al. 2020). 

Nudging is an effective approach to specifically influencing the behavior of employees. However, the danger of manipulation should always be considered. Used carefully, nudging can help to gently promote changes in organizations. They act by changing the arrangement in the decision architecture or by deliberately animating to a certain desired behavior.

6.3 Artifact-Induced Culture Hacks A list of possible culture hacks is also given here, which can certainly serve as helpful impulses for achieving one’s own desired corporate culture. To illustrate the diversity of possible hacks, suggestions from three different directions—which of course can overlap—are presented in more detail here. First of all, many hacks are derived from the agile paradigm of software development, which was already mentioned earlier. One of the most influential works comes from Jurgen Appelo, the founder of the Management 3.0 movement. In addition to his books (see Chap. 2.1), he initiated and developed an extensive online and continuing education program (management30.com (2020)): • Corporate Huddles: The core idea of Corporate Huddles lies on the one hand in a common field or area of expertise for which there is a community of employees who want to further develop this topic in the respective company. These interest groups work self-organized. Joint meetings are held, the agenda is determined together, the tasks are distributed, moderation changes. Above all, these are meetings and work on the horizontal level, where information can be exchanged quickly and also joint decisions can be made for professional procedures. In any case, these are not meetings in which management informs employees about decisions made. The emergence of these huddles is more oriented towards the medieval guilds, which have developed their own profession. Related activities include Communities of Practice, Special Interest Groups, Tribes or similar. They are not project teams. The participants must

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benefit from the meetings (or the virtual work), otherwise they simply do not participate anymore. Management promotes these meetings by providing resources. • Change Management Game: This is a typical method for Management 3.0 practices: it combines playful elements that promote community and try to solve business challenges through joint activities. The Change Management Game addresses four areas that are relevant to all change projects: the system, the individual, the relationships and the environment. It consists of 34 cards, each card containing a question from these areas. One participant is asked to answer the question. The question is explained and hints are given for possible solutions. Examples: How do you accelerate results? How do you make it desirable? How will you deal with skeptics? How do you simplify communication? This game is used when new projects are pending that involve change for the organization. The participants, for example the members of the project team, can use this game together as an idea generation. Answers are required that, for example, refer to successfully completed projects, how it was handled there in order to learn from it for the current project. Or to find analogies from completely different areas. But it can also be used by the project manager for himself to keep the whole project in view with all requirements and to stimulate his own reflection. It can also be used as a de-briefing tool after the completion of a project to elicit the lessons learned or generally as a basis for discussions to identify best practices, for example at workshops or conferences. • 12 Steps to Happiness: The philosophy of Management 3.0 is also well illustrated here. One of the goals is to promote happy employees. A positive correlation between individual happiness and professional performance is assumed as a basis, as confirmed by some studies. For this purpose, 12 steps are defined that lead to individual happiness. It is about the way, not about a goal, it is about creating conditions that enable a happy (professional) experience. These 12 steps are: – Thank someone or appreciate the work of a colleague, every day – Give someone a present – Help someone, grant support – Eat healthy – Do sports – Recover – Experience new things, create new experiences – Experience nature, go hiking – Meditate, practice mindfulness – Foster community, enable colleagues to find contacts – Pursue a goal, help other people do it – Laugh as often as you can, appreciate humor, undertake joyful events with colleagues. These suggestions are then picked up by the team or the entire company, corresponding activities are planned, supported and implemented. The results or individual experiences can then be posted on a so-called “Happiness Door” in the form of Post-Its.

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A poster with these 12 steps is also offered, for example, which is also visibly attached to this door, so that this path remains noticeable and a common committment remains present at all times. In any case, this method creates a constructive, appreciative, supportive working environment in which the steps for implementation are promoted. A second significant development line comes from the direction of so-called New Work. Zirn and Allmers (2018) present some so-called micro-methods, as do the books by Hofert and Thonet (2019) and Puckett (2020) with further examples from practice and possible uses. The Internet is also a good source of new methods, for example, the following two websites can be recommended, they contain numerous suggestions that are worth pursuing: • https://toolbox.hyperisland.com • https://www.tastycupcakes.org Schnell and Schnell (2019) can be referred to here as an example, who present a total of 50 New Work Hacks, which cover a wide range of topics in terms of approach and concept. Some of these hacks are borrowed from the work of Appelo, altogether it is an interesting and inspiring compilation, which is very well suited as a further basis for possible Culture Hacks. Again, some hacks with a cultural reference are presented here (Schnell and Schnell 2019):

• Communities of Practice: Communities of Practice are self-organized learning formats in the company that deal with different topics. • Crossfunctional Teams: are work groups that, due to the different training, experience backgrounds and technological skills of their members, have all the necessary competencies to achieve a project goal. The respective composition and availability of competencies is transparent to all members. • Golden Circle: illustrates the importance of seeing and formulating the meaning in value creation and work as social added value. Therefore, always start with the “why”. • Hackathon: is a timed, collaborative event in which ideas are designed, developed and presented in a given period of time. • Knowledge-Sharing-Formate: Knowledge-Sharing-Formats are organized event formats for active knowledge exchange among employees. • Leadership Roundtable: is a peer format in which leaders from different areas can exchange, advise and support each other openly and trustfully. • Mood Check: is a (regular) mood check among employees or in projects that is used as a basis for further development and improvement.

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• Prime directive: acts like a foundation for the mindset. Everyone is first given the opportunity to act according to their best conscience. The good intention is in the foreground. • Shared Pain Points: means communicating and sharing problems in one’s own work with other employees in the company in order to find common solutions. • Week of Learning: The existing knowledge is intensively exchanged and shared throughout the company for one week. Various formats are offered for this.

Thirdly, the equally innovative concept by Gerriet Danz (2020) can be cited as an example, which he calls “Out-of-the-Box-Box”. The system, which is only available digitally, comprises 52 ideas that can serve as inspiration and impulses for corporate innovation management. 52 because every week he sends a new idea electronically to the participating persons. The system is only available in digital form. It shows very well how hacks can be regularly set as impulses—the recipients then decide for themselves whether they want to pursue these suggestions—as scattered, justified knowledge nuggets. This should not lead to a arbitrariness of new formats, if the proposed methods support the company’s culture strategy, the corresponding tools can be tried out experimentally. Also here some hacks with cultural reference should be mentioned (Danz 2020):

• Creativity: Danz brings together knowledge from many studies: What does it mean if employees and companies are actually creative? Where can you find approaches to what prevents creativity? How can creativity be promoted? A systematic approach to the topic is encouraged, embedded in the strategic importance and provided with numerous examples. • Collaboration: In order to make this possible, events such as 3M’s DAY OF PASSION are exemplary, at this regular live event colleagues take the stage and tell their impressions, wishes, dreams, fears, ideas. As soon as these are published in the room, others can follow up on them—and this also allows for the possible further development of outstanding ideas. • Mystery Lunch: Pro 7 makes it clear with the example of Pro 7: Here people who would not otherwise meet meet for lunch, but are mixed up by software. If then the editor joins forces with the logistics manager—something extraordinary arises.

In addition to these interesting developments and examples of innovative hacks for the modern workplace, many other suggestions mainly come from coaching and consulting practice. These include above all new formats of knowledge transfer, communication and

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interaction or also tools from lean management or explicitly from the toolbox for shaping corporate culture (Herget and Strobl 2018). Also here some hacks can be presented, which originate in new formats:

• Barcamp: A barcamp (often also referred to as a bar camp, unconference, ad-hoc non-conference) is an open conference with open workshops, the content and course of which are developed and designed by the participants at the beginning of the meeting itself. Barcamps serve the purpose of exchanging and discussing content, but can also already show concrete results at the end of the event (e.g. in joint programming or development workshops). • Open Space: is a method of large group moderation for structuring conferences. It is suitable for groups of around 20 to 2000 participants. The characteristic feature is the content-related openness: the participants submit their own topics to the plenary and form a working group for each one. In this, content and possible projects are worked out. The results are summarized at the end. It is important to have an infrastructure that organizes the implementation of the project ideas that have arisen, because Open Space can produce a large variety of concrete measures in a short time. • Design Thinking: The method borrowed from the design process puts the employees involved in the position to reflect on the needs of the customers as well as those of their own company. Based on this consideration, ideas are generated and prioritized and the preferred solution is implemented concretely as a prototype. The prototype can be a model built with simple methods and materials or a drawing on a flipchart (see, for example, Uebernickel et al. 2015). • Kanban-Boards: A method from Japan, originally from software development, which is similar to Scrum. Kanban assumes that the number of parallel tasks should be limited to a few in order to achieve concentrated work and the highest possible productivity and throughput times (Rose 2019). The tasks are usually grouped on boards—in at least 3 categories: To Do (tasks that are waiting to be completed), Doing (in progress, called: “Work in progress”) and Done (completed, or ready for further processing). The creator of the performance takes the next task in their own initiative in the “Doing” column. This ensures that a manageable number of tasks is with the processor and the clients see when their tasks are in progress. Prioritization is done at short intervals (daily in the morning, weekly, depending on the environment) usually as a team. This method can also be used anywhere where projects are carried out. • Chat systems for teams, departments, companies: offer themselves to work together successfully in real time and at the same time in a collaborative and transparent way. They often replace e-mails and represent an open exchange of information.

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• The collaboration conversation: Continues the classic employee conversation by integrating additional elements of the psychological contract and thus becoming an instrument for further developing the organization (Buchinger 2018). • Organizational constellations: Organizational constellations are a systemic method for diagnosing and finding causes of conflict and solutions to management problems. The great advantage of the method is above all the speed. To solve opaque, apparently hopeless problems and entanglements, rarely more than half a day is needed. This efficiency of solutions makes the procedure increasingly popular in business practice. The detailed contribution by Gaudart and Herget (2018) shows application scenarios and prototypical procedures. The organizational constellations have the potential to fundamentally change the corporate culture through new insights, up to the questioning of previously held basic assumptions. This usually very slow process can be accelerated rapidly in this way.



Curiosity and experimentation are required for artifact-induced Culture Hacks. There are numerous methods that have already been tried and tested in practice from which to choose. Much can simply be tried out. Some of the methods do not require much preparation or investment.

All of these exemplary Culture Hacks can be recommended as an inspiration for practical work, but a systematic derivation and classification with respect to a desired corporate culture must be specific to the company and culture. Their respective integration into a systematic process ensures that they do not appear as arbitrarily appearing monoliths that can only dock very limitedly to culture formation and thus cannot develop it in a targeted manner. On the other hand, however, they are precisely minimally invasive interventions that can greatly enhance productivity, satisfaction and engagement. A combination of the approaches proposed here therefore appears to be very promising. The approach presented in the following chapter eliminates this random implementation of individual Culture Hacks and integrates them as candidates into a systematic concept for sustainable, coordinated design of the corporate culture. For all medium-sized and large companies, this approach should be indispensable, but for start-ups the pointby-point approach may be more effective, as it does not involve any “bureaucratization” that may be perceived as additional. In the approach presented, all three types of Culture Hacks are considered as a whole and systematically evaluated for their suitability in order to maximize their potential.

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References Buchinger L (2018) Das Zusammenarbeitsgespräch als Weiterentwicklung des Mitarbeitergespräches und sein Beitrag zur Unternehmenskultur. In: Herget J, Strobl H (Hrsg) Unternehmenskultur in der Praxis. Grundlagen – Methoden – Best Practices. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden Burmester H (2016) Stupser für die innovative Organisation. Mit Nudging Organisationen bewegen. Organisationsentwicklung 1:59–65 Danz G (2020) Danzblog. https://www.gerrietdanz.com/?s=out+of+the+box+box&submit=Su che. Accessed 8 Sept 2020 Eppler MJ, Kernbach S (2018) Meet up!: Einfach bessere Besprechungen durch Nudging. Ein Impulsbuch für Leiter, Moderatoren und Teilnehmer von Sitzungen. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart Gaudart A, Herget J (2018) Organisationsaufstellungen – eine systemische Methode zur Diagnose von Konflikten, Treibern und Barrieren im Kulturentwicklungsprozess. In: Herget J, Strobl H (Hrsg) Unternehmenskultur in der Praxis. Grundlagen – Methoden – Best Practices. Springer, Wiesbaden Halpern D (2015) Inside the Nudge Unit. How small Changes can make a big Difference. WH Allen, London Herget J, Strobl H (Hrsg) (2018) Unternehmenskultur in der Praxis. Grundlagen – Methoden – Best Practices. Springer, Wiesbaden Hofert S, Thonet C (2019) Der agile Kulturwandel. 33 Lösungen für Veränderungen in Organisationen. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden management30.com (2020) Management 3.0 Practices. https://management30.com/practice/. Accessed 8 Sept 2020 Microsoft (2019) So klingt die Zukunft! In: https://www.microsoft.com/de-at/unternehmen/dasneue-arbeiten/hoerbuch.aspx?CollectionId=c41cbc5e-b4f2-48f2-b4ea-48ac93cf50c1. Accessed 8 Sept 2020 Puckett S (2020) Der Code agiler Organisationen. Das Playbook für den Wandel zur agilen Organisationskultur. BusinessVillage, Göttingen Rose D (2019) Das agile Unternehmen für Dummies. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim Schnell und Schnell (2019) New Work Hacks. 50 Inspirationen für modernes und innovatives Arbeiten. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden Uebernickel F, Brenner W, Pukall B, Naef T, Schindlholzer B (2015) Design Thinking: Das Handbuch. Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch, Fraunkfurt am Main Weinmann M, Schneider Ch, Brocke vom J (2020) Digital Nudging. Enzyklopädie der Wirtschaftsinformatik. http://www.enzyklopaedie-der-wirtschaftsinformatik.de/lexikon/ueber…digitalear-beit/digital-nudging/digital-nudging/?searchterm=nudging. Accessed 8 Sept 2020 Zirn J, Allmers S (2018) Werkzeugkiste (56). Einfach. Machen. Micro Methods für das agile Projektsetup. Organisationsentwicklung 3:82–89

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Dynamic Design of Culture Hack Processes

Abstract

Culture Hacks develop their relevance in corporate affairs by being systematically integrated into daily work. This chapter discusses three possible approaches. On the one hand, an ideal-typical process of cultural design strategy is described in which Culture Hacks are located as an integral part of a roadmap. On the other hand, the use of Culture Hacks can be planned within the regular business processes. Everywhere there are cultural pain points, there is an opportunity to address them using Culture Hacks. Likewise, where deviations from the usual to the desired behavior can be observed, there is a good opportunity to consider Culture Hacks as a possible curative intervention method. Finally, the use of Culture Hacks can also be made selectively and on a case-by-case basis, without following an explicit strategy. All of these approaches may be appropriate in the respective different contexts, and indeed a combination of these different approaches is also possible. This chapter lays the foundation for a correspondingly adequate organizational culture strategy. The credo of this book is to use Culture Hacks systematically to create the desired corporate culture. After the relevance, construction and procedure have now been discussed, it is now time to bring these to life after the selective listing of possible Culture Hacks. Corporate affairs are always dynamic, so it makes sense to think of Culture Hacks process-oriented and to integrate them into the culture-forming processes. Several basic options are available for this, which will be discussed below.

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7.1 Basic Strategies for Implementing Culture Hacks On the one hand, the original culture-forming process can be considered for the implementation of the desired culture strategy. The leading question is oriented towards the phases and steps by which the conceived culture strategy can be integrated into the operational processes and structures. The result corresponds to a generic culture process. This approach corresponds to a top-down approach and clearly locates the importance of Culture Hacks in the context of cultural work. On the other hand, another perspective is taken: Where can Culture Hacks be usefully integrated into the existing process landscape? Where are there pain points that are based on inadequate cultural behavior, where are behaviors that are not in line with the apostrophized culture strategy? This is a second possible starting point. Of course, Culture Hacks can also be chosen and tried out to some extent in an unsystematic way, based on current needs. In principle, this approach can make sense. This approach then corresponds more to a bottom-up approach. It is left to the management or the employees themselves to decide whether and which measures they want to take to achieve the cultural objectives. However, if this is not to lead to a possible arbitrariness and the possible failure of the entire culture strategy, the cultural objectives should be given a prominent position in the respective target agreement process. The result of this approach will be that a motley bunch of Culture Hacks can result—which of course can also be an advantage. A common exchange of experiences should nevertheless accompany this possible way in order to exploit as many good practices and potential synergy effects as possible. These three basic possibilities for developing strategies for Culture Hacks are summarized in Fig. 7.1. The silver bullet seems to lie in the integration of these different approaches. This allows the advantages of the respective approaches to be combined, initially following a systematic top-down orientation combined with the consideration of immediately important processes taking into account current needs. This can also be well managed with the instrumentation presented in this chapter. The use of Culture Hacks can—and should— be handled very flexibly. However, the chosen approach should fit the desired corporate culture. Fig. 7.1   Basic strategies for implementing culture hacks

Generic level: oriented towards the overall process of culture factors

Strategy opons

Process level: oriented to the selecon of important processes

Point level: oriented to current needs

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7.1.1 Generic Level How can Culture Hack strategies be developed systematically? We have regularly resorted to a targeted systematic approach. To achieve this, a procedure for identifying starting points that are set at the lifecycle of cultural change projects is proposed here. A schematic procedure is proposed, as suggested in Fig. 7.2. This proceeds top-down: first, the individual cultural factors are listed (e.g. orientation towards innovation, customer orientation, …), in the second step, the strategies are listed that are to be pursued in order to achieve the cultural factors (e.g. joint development with customers, cooperation with research institutes) and finally the individual measures are derived that are to be implemented in order to achieve the strategy goals (co-creation, week of learning, …). Now the respective Culture Hacks can be planned down to the level of measures. Of course, Culture Hacks can also be formulated on the levels of cultural factor or strategy. The strategy-oriented Culture Hacks will be more likely to be used on the level of cultural factors and strategies, the artifact-induced ones rather on the level of measures. This approach can, for example, be very well integrated into the seminars for the preparation of the Culture Hacks.

7.1.2 Process Level At the starting point of the process level, the process landscape is considered as a representation of the respective practices. In particular, particularly important practices or processes can be specifically selected, in which non-culture-adequate behavior has not

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yet been recorded. For example, customer integration into project work could be illuminated as a process if the determination of the specific customer requirements still does not appear to be goal-oriented. In the next step, corresponding Culture Hacks could be sought that support this process better. Here it is recommended to proceed according to the prevailing pain points, where particularly important weaknesses can be identified that could be addressed with the help of Culture Hacks.

7.1.3 Point Level The point level is oriented to the current needs, wishes, available offers, preferences, available experiences or other factors that prompt the use of certain Culture Hacks. Here, too, the culture factors should prioritize the selection as a guiding principle. However, this approach offers far more freedom of choice in the selection and implementation of certain Culture Hacks. For example, a new employee from another company could report positively on a method that would also make sense in this company. For example, the Kanban method could be introduced in a team. This approach does not primarily follow the strategic approach, but can lead to well-accepted results, since the current need determines the use of certain Culture Hacks. Of course, it would also be an advantage if a chosen measure were to be related to a current culture factor.

7.1.4 Strategy Integration As already described at the beginning, the chosen strategy should fit the company and the planning behavior generally practiced there. Of course, here too, a conscious pattern break can be set for a desired future behavior. Often, a combination of these strategies will find its way into the company, with different teams or departments pursuing different strategies. However, attention should be paid to a certain harmonization of the experiences so that synergy effects can arise and be used. The following general considerations when using the individual types of Culture Hacks usually lead to good results: The strategy-oriented Culture Hacks always focus on the prioritized culture factors. They serve the constant reminder of the desired behavior and draw attention to current deviations. The concept of Nudges can be linked to all three levels. The task is to identify incentives that encourage and reward a changed behavior. In the case of the artifact-induced Culture Hacks, the selection or design of suitable methods depends on the desired goals. There is a very wide range of available methods and tools available here, which can trigger different effects. An overview is to be strived for in order to select and then adapt methods or formats to the specific organizational conditions from this reservoir.

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However, these procedures do not have to be pursued uniformly or even centrally in an organization. Depending on the size and organizational differentiation of the company, this planning process can be carried out in a cascading or decentralized manner. 

When developing and designing strategies for the general use of Culture Hacks, various strategies are available. These different strategies each offer good options and can also be pursued in combination in order to achieve the best possible solutions and results.

7.2 Designing Cultural Hack Strategies In the previous section, we identified general starting points for the potential use of culture hacks that enable systematic derivation. These must now be linked to a coherent strategy. First of all, the approach points with the best cost-benefit ratio should be selected from all possible approach points, i.e. those with a high effect at a reasonable cost and time. In addition to the respective responsibility, the time course must also be planned. If, for example, events are to be held in the future as part of “Open Space”, then employees must first be trained for this, or external moderators must be engaged. Both require a certain amount of preparation time. The individual Culture Hacks can then also be prioritized to support the subsequent selection process. This detailed procedure is recommended in particular for the nudging-oriented and artifact-induced Culture Hacks. The strategy-oriented culture hacks are, as has been mentioned several times, mainly of a communicative nature and are used in interpersonal situations. The preparation necessary for this lies in the qualification and an optional coaching. The first selection and condensation process can be designed as suggested in Fig. 7.3. In the next step, the selected candidates are further concretized, as exemplarily shown in Fig. 7.4. The aim is to operationalize the planned candidates to such an extent that their use can be planned. It is certainly advisable to set up and accompany the whole process with proven project management techniques. It is important to keep a good overview of the planned candidates and to take all necessary measures in advance so that they can be used successfully. With certain Culture Hacks, initial experience can be gained in a pilot application and then the respective Culture Hack can be used in other organizational units as a roll-out. Therefore, the further planning focuses on the list of Culture Hacks that are to be deliberately planned and used in business operations. Some Culture Hacks will require longer lead times, others can be transferred to operational use without too much effort. After this further concretization, the selected activities can be represented in an integrated roadmap, as indicated in Fig. 7.5. This can show the entire process, the qualification measures, the use of individual Culture Hacks, the exchange of experiences, the roll-out into other areas, the planned evaluation times, and so on. This should become

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jNudging-oriented culture hacks - … - … - … Arfact induced culture hacks - … - … - …

Fig. 7.4   Concretization of Culture Hacks

a rolling, flexible instrument for planning the entire process. This ensures that the introduction of Culture Hacks receives a certain amount of attention and resources. Such planning and the resulting visibility increase the chances that the process will be kept alive by far. This roadmap can be developed and used in a cascading manner down to the team level. Whether this is developed by the manager alone or in the team, whether all Culture Hacks are included or only selected ones, this has to be answered situationally. The design of a strategy for Culture Hacks certainly seems initially time-consuming and also seems to be at odds with a basic principle, namely the supposedly spontaneous use. Of course, this impression is correct, but it should be noted that spontaneity in the workplace context is conditional on careful preparation. And this process appears to be particularly time-consuming because it is new and little used. The design of each subsequent strategy will be easier because many aspects can be adopted and a certain routine will soon develop, which will make the complexity appear more manageable.

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Finally, it is recommended to derive a personal roadmap for each manager from a general roadmap, for example at the departmental level. This defines the implementation of the Culture Hack strategy as the task of each manager, it can be formulated as a goal for the managers and, for example, anchored as a KPI or OKR (Kudernatsch 2020) and thus used for evaluation. If the design and implementation of Culture Hack strategies is anchored in the company’s evaluation system, the probability that the Culture Hack strategy has arrived in management practice and thus in everyday working life also increases. 

The development of dynamic and consistent Culture Hack strategies is certainly associated with a certain amount of effort. However, if one considers the contribution of corporate culture to corporate success, this effort is more than justified. With increasing routine of this process, the effort will decrease over time while increasing efficiency.

References Kudernatsch D (2020) Toolbox Objectives and Key Results. Transparente und agile Strategieumsetzung mit OKR. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart

8

Evaluation and Optimization—How Do Culture Hacks Work?

Abstract

All new measures in organizations should be evaluated for their effect. This also applies to the use of Culture Hacks. There are two central strands of evaluation: on the one hand, the entire process of deriving, designing and implementing Culture Hacks can be evaluated along the implementation chain. So the process of introducing Culture Hacks is evaluated as a whole. On the other hand, all selected and implemented Culture Hacks should always be evaluated as individual measures. The effort and the instrumentation used for this will vary greatly: for individual small hacks, a verbal personal exchange within the peer group may be sufficient, for the new introduction of the Culture Hack process, a more systematic approach should be taken into account, considering the different perspectives of all those involved. Because it is mainly about learning from the experiences made for the entire organization. Optimization processes play a key role. Culture Hacks are innovative instruments for most companies that need to be experienced first. Then it is a matter of optimizing this process iteratively. Possible approaches and starting points are discussed in this chapter. At the end of the chapter, a canvas suitable for process control is presented. For most employees, using Culture Hacks to optimize corporate culture as a conscious process will be new territory. Uncertainty, lack of feeling for the rightness of the situation and timing, uncertainty about possible reactions and consequences, all this is still lacking in experience and benchmark values. Since the use of Culture Hacks is primarily an individual trigger process, an exchange of experience is of high importance. The openness and willingness to experiment with this new culture strategy remain essential during the introduction process. All experiences should lead to a simultaneous optimization of the entire process—the more openly, constructively and critically the individual phases and experiences are dealt with, the better and more sustainable the entire process © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_8

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will be integrated as an essential part of the company’s culture work. The following considerations focus in addition to the overall process especially on the strategically oriented Culture Hacks, since their use is more complex and uncertain than the Culture Hacks of the other categories. But their evaluation should not be neglected either. These considerations serve as a basis and guideline for their evaluation.

8.1 Evaluate the Entire Process Culture Hacks work—but how well do they work in a specific organization? If the introduction of Culture Hacks is supported by experienced employees or consultants, it can be assumed that many insights and experiences from good practice examples have already flowed into the design and implementation, which can significantly support a successful introduction. In the case of self-initiated and first-time Culture Hack integration processes into the design of culture change programs, it is definitely recommended to comprehensively evaluate the entire process. Especially because culture hacks should now be an integral part of culture work and therefore the numerous learning experiences offer room for further optimizations. Who should evaluate? This question can only be answered situationally with regard to the respective organization. If there is a staff unit for culture work (as a project or program office), this is definitely to be involved as the responsible initiator of the evaluation. Again, we plead for a simple, lean solution. In most cases, a small team of 3–5 people should be sufficient. In addition to an expert on culture design, the HR department, at least one representative of a specialist department and a representative of the upper management level should be part of the evaluation team. The following aspects could be evaluated: • Are the prioritized cultural factors with their cultural objectives set and derived? • Have the corresponding desired behaviors been determined in the respective processes and artifacts identified for cultural shaping? • Have deviations in actual behavior been systematically analyzed? • Have possible Culture Hacks been derived from them? • Has a qualification for the – Development – Use – Implementation – Evaluation – of Culture Hacks in an adequate scope taken place? • Is there constructive exchange of experiences on the use of Culture Hacks?

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• Has the effect of Culture Hacks on individuals and teams—also informally— been analyzed? • Is the use of Culture Hacks promoted in the company’s sanctions and rewards system? • Is the use of Culture Hacks taken into account in the context of target agreements? • Are good practices derived from individual experiences and used in other organizational areas?

From the evaluation of these—and other relevant—questions, the entire process of using Culture Hacks in a company can be systematically further developed and optimized. At the beginning of the use of this strategic instrument, this evaluation will be more detailed and deeper, in later phases often only selective points will be specifically considered— the entire process should then already be well rehearsed. The application of Culture Hacks will advance after a certain period of time to the established routine of business practice. But even in the future, when Culture Hacks are already in widespread use, regular evaluation can contribute to further development and further optimization. Especially when certain Culture Hacks are to be transferred to other organizational areas in the rollout of the company, an evaluation is indispensable in order that this process can take place reliably and the experiences made can be taken into account. If Culture Hacks take place later among peers or even bottom-up, it may also appear advisable to flank this with an accompanying evaluation. In the end, this will also document how high a priority culture work has assumed in the organization—it has matured into a top priority and thus gives it a self-reinforcing weight. A dynamic upward spiral of culturally conscious behavior will be the desired result. 

When introducing Culture Hacks for the first time, an evaluation of the entire process appears to be very advisable. From a comprehensive evaluation, many improvements for the future strategy can be derived.

8.2 Essential Evaluation Steps The following briefly addresses individual aspects of the evaluation, which are of particular importance. The deepening of individual aspects is always to be decided situationally, newly introduced Culture Hacks should first be intensively analyzed for their effect, with proven Culture Hacks with good experience background this may be superfluous.

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8.2.1 Collect and Evaluate Feedback If the use of Culture Hacks was preceded by a qualification, as recommended and described in Chap. 4, there is already a potential peer group in which the experience gathered so far can be brought in, discussed and evaluated in a certain cycle. If preparatory coachings were carried out, the experiences made can be evaluated together with the coach. In this phase, this—quite unstructured—evaluation serves as a first orientation and evaluation of the success of the measures as a strategic instrument for shaping the corporate culture.

8.2.2 Systematically Measure In a second evaluation phase, the effect of the Culture Hacks should be measured above all on the addressees and their contribution to the further development of corporate culture should be analyzed. Particular attention should be paid to the development of relevant metrics. What is measured and assessed to determine whether the use of a particular Culture Hack was successful? Answering this question leads to adequate measurement methods. Individual oral feedback, group discussions or surveys (online or in writing) may be suitable for this purpose. As a result of the Culture Hacks being “minimally invasive” instruments, such evaluations should also take place “in passing” and not be approached with an excessively elaborate apparatus. As a rule, the Culture Hacks should not be at the center of a survey, but rather represent one part of it. However, an initial experience-based systematics makes it possible to identify situations and approaches that can lead to Good Practices, an important added value of the evaluation.

8.2.3 Better Culture Hacks Through Qualification All evaluation measures—if designed as formative or summative evaluation—should give indications for future optimization. Particular attention should be paid to the aspects that can be optimized by qualification measures. As a result, indications for the optimization of

• • • • •

Conception of processes and their implementation Preparation and implementation Qualification measures Accompanying support Suitability and further development of tools and methods for the preparation of Culture Hacks • Involving Culture Hacks in team development and organizational processes • Indications of further promoting measures in the context of culture shaping

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can be won. The implementation of these measures should be anchored in the paradigm of the desired future corporate culture: Appreciation, trust, community spirit, experimentation, openness, continuous optimization can serve as guidelines for these evaluation measures. This can make a valuable contribution to the learning organization: at the personal and organizational level.

8.2.4 Integration into Employee Goals and -Evaluation A stabilization of the Culture Hacks in the corporate culture of the entire organization is primarily ensured by the integration into the evaluation and sanctioning systems. This process will take place primarily top-down within the management. The use of Culture Hacks as a contribution to the development of corporate culture is to be anchored in the respective employee objectives, which should also be discussed and evaluated in the employee interviews. The use of Culture Hacks is an active contribution of the employees to the establishment of the desired corporate culture. Of course, not only the use is to be appreciated, but above all the effect achieved in the respective area of responsibility. The individual assessment interviews also serve to identify the personal need for further support forms. The use and effect of Culture Hacks can also be integrated into other evaluation formats such as 360° Feedback. In addition to the consideration of specific KPIs associated with the use of Culture Hacks, “modern” forms such as the aforementioned Objectives and Key Results (OKR) can be used. These are particularly well suited for promoting the use of Culture Hacks in companies. 

Many of the evaluation steps can be carried out informally. The structured and reflected experiences provide the basis for an optimized establishment of the Culture Hacks in the company’s practice.

8.3 Optimization of the Use of Culture Hacks In entrepreneurial, also internal corporate innovations, the big hit will not always succeed immediately. Too much is still new and untested, also the complex, mutually influencing multitude of parameters must first fit together. The classic way to optimization leads also here over organizational learning processes, which take place through conception, implementation and evaluation. The widely established Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) should also be applied here. Especially the feedback, which is generated comprehensively on different levels and the analysis of different objects through evaluations—as shown in the last section—opens the way to the systematic optimization of this process.

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This should be exemplarily carried out here at the four objects • • • •

Corporate culture model Structures and processes Integration into cultural work Culture Hacks Canvas

8.3.1 Corporate Culture Model Culture Hacks are based on the principles of the Architecture-Corporate Culture Model, which was introduced in Chap. 1. The three levels of the model provide the basis as well as the location of the Culture Hacks, which find prominent consideration as the third level there. This individualized model, which is supposed to represent the company’s reality and desired future, plays a outstanding role in cultural work. The evaluations and the resulting optimizations adapt the model more and more to the employees’ perceived reality. This reality check increases the acceptance of this model if appropriate consequences and refinements are made. This should take place as a transparent, communicatively accompanied process. First of all, this will happen mainly among the executives, later among all employees. The uniqueness of one’s own corporate culture, which at the same time reflects the identity of the company, becomes particularly clear through this gradual differentiation of the model. The more a gradual development of the model—and as a result an immediate adaptation of the strategies and measures developed from it— is carried out, the more adequately it is reflected as a tangible image of the company’s activities. As a result, a strong normative power of corporate culture can arise.

8.3.2 Structures and Processes If Culture Hacks are to become a matter of course in corporate cultural work, they must be closely interlinked with existing structures and processes. This will also be done better with repeated experience when a certain routine sets in. A deep organizational anchoring and institutionalization of the planning and implementation of Culture Hacks will be possible if the Culture Hacks are experienced not as something isolated, but as something integrated in the organizational design process. This is supported if the evaluation of Culture Hacks returns as a permanent task and no longer appears as a new foreign body. If the question “What can we do differently to achieve better results?” Becomes a matter of course in the company’s course of business, Culture Hacks will become a normality in the company’s activities. The evaluations therefore always have the goal of improving the structures and processes of cultural work and not just optimizing the individual resulting measures.

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8.3.3 Integration in Cultural Work Corporate culture is lived every day—so evaluations and the resulting optimizations should be an integral part of the culture work experienced anew every day. This was mentioned before: a planning experienced as routine in the sense of an iterative PlanDo-Check-Act cycle stabilizes the use of Culture Hacks to the practiced corporate practice. On the one hand, the cultural design remains present, on the other hand, it loses its exceptional character, which makes the Culture Hacks a corporate anomaly. This is not a contradiction: Culture Hacks should irritate, at the same time this process of irritation should correspond to an inherent routine. The advantages of this acclimatization process predominate, the self-evident experiences a higher acceptance of itself. Optimizations should therefore be part of target agreements and be integrated into the regulated normal work process.

8.3.4 Steer the Process With a Culture-Hacks-Canvas A Culture-Hacks-Canvas is a well-suited visualization tool that maps the entire process from the development, implementation to the optimization of Culture Hacks. It offers a good overview and a conclusive connection between • • • • • •

the individual cultural factors and the pursued cultural goals, about the desired behaviors, the selected Culture Hacks, the actions to be taken up to the evaluation with suitable metrics and the resulting optimization measures.

All these different aspects can be summarized in a canvas in a clear way and contribute to a high degree of transparency. This overview as a canvas simplifies and concentrates the process of Culture Hacks development and deployment on the essentials. This provides an excellent basis for controlling the process on this basis and thus making it more manageable and at the same time providing an excellent communication tool among the participants. In which the fields of evaluation and optimization are also included, it is also a living document that can be edited at different times. This canvas should be used in a cascading manner in the various organizational sub-areas to provide a good overview. It can therefore cover the various hierarchy and responsibility areas down to the team level. An example of a Culture Hacks Canvas can be found in Fig. 8.1.

… …

Fig. 8.1   Culture-Hacks-Canvas

How do you recognize new behavior? - … - …

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This tool, which can be adapted to your own requirements, not only clarifies the relationships, it keeps the process in mind and should be discussed again and again in the team. It includes the essential elements of the entire optimization process. 

Culture Hacks should be developed into a lived normality in the company. For this it is useful to interlock them with the other aspects of culture work, such as the company-specific culture model and the embedding in structures and processes. As a central management and control tool, a Culture-Hacks-Canvas has proven itself.

9

Avoiding Mistakes—Mastering Challenges. Guidelines for Sustainable Success

Abstract

Culture Hacks are still unfamiliar territory for most companies. Their testing can be seen as a new management technique in the context of culture change processes, but still relies on a small body of knowledge of proven findings. In this section, ten possible sources of error are identified and ways to avoid them are discussed. The main sources of danger are the lack of strategy and systematics, insufficient competence, the inappropriate approach and the lack of required courage. In addition, approaches are discussed how to strengthen the connection and appreciation as well as how to prevent possible cynicism in the application. The chapter ends with a discussion of the load capacity and possible overstrain of the system. The use of Culture Hacks represents an innovation in most companies. Their use is not yet extensively tested, there is only a small amount of experience to fall back on, the pre-programmed result does not appear to be certain. Despite good preparation, there are many potential pitfalls that can stand in the way of a productive and constructive use. The following are some important possible stumbling blocks that should be avoided. With these preventive measures, a successful approach to the use of Culture Hacks can be significantly increased.

9.1 No Strategy Culture Hacks are often used without having thought intensively about their relevance, conception and effects, the context to the desired corporate culture remains vague and can only be established rudimentarily at best. After all, they are “hacks”, isn’t it precisely

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in their nature to be used quickly and easily? This argument of course has a certain justification. Nevertheless: why can this become a problem? Culture Hacks can—and should—sustainably support the desired corporate culture in the sense represented here. They promote not an anecdotal, random trial and error, but rather consider how one would like to cooperate in the future so that the company can assert itself successfully in the competitive environment. The use of Culture Hacks therefore always goes beyond the specific occasion. This only works if the connection and the logic of the derivation are clear. Likewise, the use of Culture Hacks requires a conceptual approach, it is not a patchwork. Each used Culture Hack should have a reference to the big picture, even if that is of course not always apparent in the concrete situation. A comprehensive concept, starting from the entrepreneurial culture factors and the corresponding desired behaviours and supporting measures, then makes the result experienceable as the result of a planned approach. Culture Hacks can be implemented very easily and immediately in many cases, which often leads to neglecting strategic use. It is often underestimated that a targeted use requires a lot of preparation, many plans and thought work. Just because something can be implemented spontaneously, it should always be considered in the overall context: does this Culture Hack also fit the desired corporate culture? A quickly and obviously easy to implement intervention does not necessarily have to be in the sense of the overall development of the company. Of course, the “lightness” of many Culture Hacks should not be denied, on the contrary, as has been emphasized several times, they should appear spontaneous, self-evident and due to the situation. However, the strategic calculation in the back of the head represents the necessary compass for the targeted use in the sense of the corporate culture. How do you avoid chaotic, uncoordinated and random use? 

The following procedure is recommended: • Derivation of the appropriate Culture Hacks from the culture strategy: What culture do we want? Which Culture Hacks support this and which impulses keep the culture factors present in awareness? • Think in the architecture model: Which level, which processes are affected? • No overstraining of the organizational system at the individual, social and organizational level.

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9.2 No Systematics In addition to the strategy, the systematics are of high importance. The one actually requires the other, but it still appears important to encourage and practice a structured approach. It remains important to carefully plan the levels of deployment. What usually starts as top-down should eventually lead to peer-to-peer usage and then also be considered as bottom-up—this is then the highest maturity level in the operational deployment of Culture Hacks. This approach can be planned, promoted and controlled. Even in the temporal context, a phased approach is useful. Do not start and use everything at once, but with consideration, prioritization and selection, in order to always have this process under control and to be able to trace and adjust cause-effect reactions. Thinking in the proposed corporate culture-architecture-model helps to achieve an integrated systematics in the application. Here, too, taking into account the conceptual levels and their interactions increases the probability of success of the implementation by a multiple. Finally, every systematics also requires the evaluation of the experience gathered so far, active feedback, exchange of experience, reflection and subsequent further qualification increase the security in dealing with Culture Hacks. This deliberately planned approach bears faster fruit than a mere “trial and error” approach—systematics pays off here. How can one avoid random action? 

Here are some hints to serve as useful guides: • • • •

Oriented to importance Work with roadmaps: When, where, what, who Evaluate, collect and evaluate experiences Still make planning flexible.

9.3 Inadequate Competence In advance, considerations of apparently required qualifications should play a major role. Nothing evaporates in the daily work process faster than being insufficiently prepared for a situation, assessing the risk of failure as high and that in the background, not having to set a Culture Hack. Only a few managers or even employees will try something for which they are not sufficiently prepared and qualified. The use of Culture Hacks first requires an individual assessment of existing competencies and further qualification. It must be taken into account that it is by no means only about new methods and procedures. It is above all about empathy for the situation and

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the colleagues, it being obvious that a corresponding qualification appears to be difficult here at first, but it is nevertheless possible. A change of perspective can already achieve a lot here. Also, the consideration of emotional competencies, as they are discussed in connection with emotional intelligence (Goleman 1995), appears to be essential. Emotionally dense situations must first be mastered confidently—without practice and experience, this will only work well for a few. Metareflection and dissociation are helpful instruments here. But social competencies of teams are also required—feedback mechanisms should become commonplace in the daily work process. Feedback should always be understood as mediated requirements in order to develop the cooperation into a good joint success. Group dynamic processes will also play a major role in the use of Culture Hacks. This too should be taken into account in training measures in advance and trained accordingly. Finally, organizational competencies must also be questioned. How are the individual or team-related degrees of freedom designed? What scope of action is possible in the individual and group process, do not rules make the use of Culture Hacks more difficult? Bureaucratic, regulating structures often make the use of Culture Hacks impossible. Selfresponsibility, autonomy and self-effective design are good organizational conditions that can contribute to success. In summary, the following questions • what does the user have to be able to do? • what does the addressee have to be able to do? • what does the organization have to be able to do? can be answered as follows: 

The User Should • know the strategy of corporate culture and be able to assess the effect of Culture Hacks, • know and master the principles of construction, • have courage and courage, which are positively sanctioned.



The Recipient Should • appreciate and recognize Culture Hacks as a constructive contribution, • control impulsive reactions and be able to contextualize, • practice reflection processes, learn and thus adapt the mindset and behavior.

9.4  Trying To Do Too Much



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The Organization Should • integrate Culture Hacks as an instrument of personnel and organizational development, • positively sanction the use of Culture Hacks, • ensure qualification measures and accompaniment.

9.4 Trying To Do Too Much Quick successes can lead to the temptation to use Culture Hacks everywhere and with regard to as many cultural factors as possible at the same time. However, considerations of an appropriate approach and the right extent of implementation are important. It should be well considered on which areas and in which organizational sub-areas it would be appropriate to start with Culture Hacks. The candidates should have the necessary organizational maturity for this, as mentioned earlier. Not all organizational subsystems are ready to use Culture Hacks productively—a sensitivity to this is part of the necessary equipment. A targeted introduction and opening to Culture Hacks measures should be made. Likewise, the available space for exchange of experiences and reflection should be provided. Especially in the initial stage, an evaluation of the results achieved so far should take place in the peer group or with a coach as soon as possible. This can help to quickly eliminate the uncertainty at the beginning of the use of Culture Hacks. Then a systematic roll-out with better planning can be made. The affected managers get a feel for the situation, anticipate possible reactions better, can slowly start to “play” with Culture Hacks. This is usually experienced as a welcome increase in sovereignty, which is reflected in the increased level of competence. From this stage on, Culture Hacks lose their possible implementation experience associated with uncertainty or even fear for the users, they are used more and more confidently and develop their character as an instrument for sustainable shaping of the corporate culture. 

Culture Hacks should be introduced into the company system in accordance with their importance. A well-planned process that allows space for a playful approach with necessary phases of reflection ensures a tolerable introduction. However, the momentum should be used. If you start with Culture Hacks that lead to visible successes too quickly, this simplifies the process and the self-evident of the Culture Hacks becomes a pleasant habit. A roll-out strategy that does not overload the organization should become the norm. The scope of the measures can always be individually dosed according to the experiences made.

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9.5 Not demanding enough The use of Culture Hacks is directly related to individual courage, as has been emphasized often enough. However, the restraint or even fear of one’s own courage is an effective hindrance to the use of Culture Hacks. If the use of Culture Hacks becomes an entrepreneurial maxim in the context of cultural design processes, of course not only a subtly perceived pressure arises to use them. Their integration into corporate sanctioning systems practically challenges the use of  Culture Hacks. It will therefore be important to give individual managers a safe space to experience their own limits of emotional communication. Learning and expanding one’s own comfort zone is very helpful in this process. It must also be possible to correct individual violations of a frame perceived as constructive. The risk was consciously taken, the possibility of failure included. From this experience, a need for qualification often crystallizes, which should then be demanded. After all, the use of Culture Hacks should not end in stress. However, the search for one’s own endurance is often not exploited to the full. Here, ambitious goals should be agreed and tackled. 

The importance of coaching and peer groups becomes very clear. Both in coaching and in peer groups, the exchange of experience is of high importance. Open and transparent communication will help—to dare more, but also to learn better from other border experiences. A perceived group support can help a lot with the implementation and maintenance of the process.

However, it should not be forgotten that in the job profile of managers this courage should be part of the organization for the best of the organization. This should then also be demanded, provided that the necessary support and qualification is also granted in the preparation.

9.6 Proceeding Too Quickly Good experiences and quick successes can easily tempt one to speed up the pace of using Culture Hacks. It may be that this is right and the successes are a good motivator, but the process should still be well thought out. In any case, there is no need to rush— there is usually enough time to proceed cautiously where it makes sense. A competition in the fastest possible use of Culture Hacks could also lead to negative and hasty consequences. To determine the right speed, it is also recommended here to give the feedback of the leaders with their experience in the use of Culture Hacks a high priority. From the exchange of experiences, it can be deduced very well when and possibly in which order good experiences were achieved. Also from the opposite, if no good results were achieved, a lot can be derived and learned.

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But the feedback from employees, as the “affected” of Culture Hacks, also provides further information on the sensible dissemination of Culture Hacks in their own organization. This can be done in the context of regular meetings or in the immediate reflection of a specific Culture Hack. But above all, it is also a question of measuring the success of Culture Hacks, has this achieved the intended goal? It is obvious that it is of little use to use many Culture Hacks quickly, only to later find out that they ultimately had no effect. Culture Hacks are instruments in the context of cultural change processes and therefore their success should be measured after use in order to lead to possible adaptations. From this it can be derived very well whether the Culture Hacks were used well and absorbed by the employees or the organization as intended. Speed in the development of learning processes is a very relative and situationally flexible variable. At the same time, too many open construction sites should not be created, which would then make it more difficult or even impossible to assign the effect of a certain Culture Hack. Otherwise, the situation could arise that Culture Hacks are useful, harmful or even neutralize each other, but the user does not gain control over which contribution comes from which Culture Hack. This would also lose the instrument character with a predictable If-Then-Relation. 

It is not the speed of the introduction process that counts, but above all the quality. Nevertheless, it is necessary to take advantage of the momentum so that the process does not sink into the daily “business as usual”.

9.7 Strengthening the Connection Culture Hacks in themselves not only have the potential to strengthen the sense of belonging, the shared mission and vision, but they can also have the opposite effect if used incorrectly. Therefore, it should be primarily a framing that predominates in the company, which emphasizes the connection, the role of the individual in cooperation with others, the motto, “everyone is in the same boat”, should be lived. How can the connection be strengthened through the use of Culture Hacks? The motivation behind every use of Culture hacks should always be the pursuit of a shared success. The connecting concern is in the foreground, a successful implementation of the corporate vision is in the common interest—and everyone benefits from it. Of course, this is a high claim, which every company that wants to be sustainably successful should indeed commit itself to. However, the connection is also strengthened by the fact that mistakes can be openly discussed, especially the use of new methods and procedures can fail. The shared experience of failure, not to attribute blame but to look for better solutions, leads to a higher team cohesion. The joint analysis of errors, whether in the conception or implementation, allows for joint learning. The open experience of these shared learning processes

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also facilitates the use of Culture Hacks, one does not wait for the mistakes of others to exploit or use them against others, but the desire to achieve the best possible together. This should by no means sound naive, but prove to be the modus operandi of the use of Culture Hacks in practice. 

The emphasis on the shared vision, mission and the steps taken by all to achieve this goal is concretized by the mutually supportive and united going of tried and tested, but also new ways. This, the narrative surrounding Culture Hacks, creates the fertile conditions for their successful use.

9.8 Emphasize Appreciation Culture Hacks has the danger of being didactic, being imparted from above and losing the same level. This is associated with the risk that personal appreciation is lost in the concrete situation. The use of Culture Hacks should always include respect for the individual. It is always about the matter, not about the person in their value and their respect, even if this is not always easy to separate—or should be understood as such. It may be advisable to point out this difference in the context of Culture Hacks. In possibly also heatedly escalating situations, Culture Hacks should not be misunderstood as a blamethe-other-game. A simple ingredient for this is always the right shot of politeness coupled with a certain degree of certainty, here again the tone makes the music. Harsh criticism, know-itall and error-prone are the wrong ingredients for constructive Culture Hacks. Clear and unambiguous in the matter, but not fault-finding and derogatory in tone, would be the wrong way—which would quickly lose the credibility of the Culture Hacks in the organization. A very helpful means of creating and maintaining appreciation can be achieved through a form of binding confirmation. After it has become clear why the Culture Hack was set, the in-context setting with the desired corporate culture makes it possible to create a common understanding of the desired behaviours and the culture hack is understood as an effective tool for achieving this goal. It should be noted once again at this point—the goal of Culture Hacks is not to unexpectedly demand new behaviours, but only to contrast the divergence from the currently shown behaviour with the agreed and desired behaviour. They serve as a tool for reflection and learning. 

Meet the employee on an equal footing, always assume the good intention, consistently pursue the cultural goals with all facets of the behaviour-promoting behaviour—this respectful behaviour will help the Culture Hacks to succeed.

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9.9 Avoid Cynicism and Sarcasm The path between the constructive indication of a discrepancy in behaviour and the arrival as a know-it-all is often narrow. Here too, a few hints may be useful to increase sensitivity. On the one hand, a perspective change always helps when formulating, putting oneself in the other (or the group): • how can the concrete culture hack arrive? • how could it possibly be misunderstood? The role reversal with these preliminary considerations can help to avoid some mistakes. In addition, there is increased sensitivity in the use of words and language in general. Here, too, the quality of the personal competence already mentioned shows itself. Where empathy prevails, Culture Hacks will hardly be misunderstood as cynical or even sarcastic. This is something to work on. The prevailing corporate framing plays an equally important role. In an atmosphere of mistrust, lack of willingness to cooperate, strong competition, toxic working environment or even mobbing, Culture Hacks should be used with great caution. First of all, these prevailing framework conditions must be changed as soon as possible before a wide and constructive use of Culture Hacks can be considered. Of course, certain suitable Culture Hacks can also be part of the solution. A retrospective look at a successful culture hack with a certain time lag is likely to prove just as helpful. In the sense of lessons learned, it can be asked, • • • •

whether the use was respectful, what was good, what could have been better, how an optimal hack could be formulated in this situation the next time.

These questions serve to optimize the use of Culture Hacks permanently through reflection. Coaching and peer groups also help to reflect one’s own behavior and to provide a kind of supervision. 

Culture Hacks can be best successful through empathic behavior. Where empathy is lacking, the use should be avoided, because then the Culture Hacks would rather lead to negative consequences. Empathy is an essential and important companion of Culture Hacks in the company.

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9.10 Overburdening the System How many and which Culture Hacks can the company system handle? This is also a point to be considered in the use of Culture Hacks. The strategic use of Culture Hacks implies that the company system is development-capable. They are therefore dynamic structures that can grow through challenges and should. Therefore, one may expect something from them. What we said about the personal comfort zone also applies to the organizational comfort zone. New procedures, concepts, instruments, formats, methods, all of this must take into account the ability of the organization as a conglomerate of people, tasks and coordinative procedures. Where the limits of the bearable are always to be explored. Constructive discussions about this are very helpful for the development of organizations, the best place is again in the peer groups or similar formats. This promotes an organizational mindset of change, dynamics, constructive development. However, business systems can also suffer from fatigue if they are constantly confronted with challenges, have to act and react. Homeostatic phases of equilibrium also demand phases of relaxation. Stress and constant change are to be removed from business operations at least temporarily. Good managers should pay attention to this balancing. The appreciation and celebration of successful Culture Hacks should certainly have its place, after all, they document an entrepreneurial development that is strategy-compliant and beneficial to the common success. And what happens if a culture hack actually leads to an overburdening of the organization? Then there is nothing wrong with having no further measures ready, even if an organizational intervention simply does not work. Here, no fear of a possible loss of face should prevail. Where new things are tried out, failure must also be allowed. In a constructive, trust-based climate, it will be well received—on the contrary—to take into account the system’s ability to absorb and to state that an intended Culture Hack simply does not work. An analysis of the responsible framework conditions also allows for organizational learning. In any case, the consideration of these possible sources of error will help with the successful implementation of Culture Hacks. 

Companies represent a living organism, both the input and the processing speed are limited. The organism wants to develop and grow at the same time. Finding the right balance and the appropriate speed so that the Culture Hacks can develop their potential requires flexibility and a good sense of perception. With openness, communication, listening and the necessary confidence, the feeling for it will develop.

References Goleman D (1995) Emotional intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam, New York

Culture Hacks as Instruments for Personnel and Organizational Development

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Abstract

The desired corporate culture must be experienced in everyday working life. Culture Hacks are the link between the desired corporate culture and concrete behaviour. Used correctly, they are a central source of personnel and organisational development. The effects are manifold, in addition to individual development, teams and the entire organisation are also developed. At the same time, they open up the perspective of the company as a laboratory that allows innovation, promotes intrapreneurship, fills values with concrete life, brings the emotional component of togetherness to the development of personal, team-oriented and organisational competencies and makes the company as a whole more agile. Culture Hacks are catalysts of entrepreneurial development as instruments for influencing mindsets and behaviour. Culture Hacks have the potential to sustainably change organizations. They are the link between a corporate culture strategy that is often perceived as abstract at the beginning of a cultural shaping process, on the one hand, and the various specific cultural factors and the concrete behavior in task fulfillment on the other. The Culture Hacks have the task of bringing the daily work life into line and awareness with these cultural factors. If the implementation is successful, this will have a multitude of positive effects on the company in various ways.

10.1 Personal Perspective Contrary to what might be superficially assumed, Culture Hacks do not degrade the employee to a mere object of intervention, quite the contrary, the employee advances to the subject. The employee is seen and valued in the context of his role and task fulfill© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6_10

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ment. Through this consideration and inclusion, he is challenged at the same time. The routine behavior in the comfort zone is disturbed and broken, new thinking and/or behavior is provoked, which also promotes subjective learning at the same time—connected with personal development. In order to make this personal development possible, the working context must be right—constructiveness, positivity, recognition, sharing of progress and development. Learning and personal reflection are experienced as attributes that contribute to a positive development of one’s own competence and personality in the organizational context. The workplace is experienced as an interesting personal learning environment in which the individual can get to know and develop many potentials. Nevertheless, it remains in this not trivial balancing act between a personally incongruent behavior and the desired ideal-typical course of action not to fall into any blame. Rather, it must be made clear that the new desired behaviors are not yet routine, for whatever reason. As already mentioned earlier, the “system” has to be controlled even better. Culture Hacks, however, always address specific people, whether individually or as members of a collective. The focus should always be on the culturally appropriate behavior in the task fulfillment in the company as the result of a set of necessary competencies. It is necessary to address the promotion, development and improvement of these competencies of the employee.

10.2 Team Perspective The use of Culture Hacks can lead to increased cohesion within teams. Their use is evidence of the desire to feel committed to achieving common goals. They are therefore not used selfishly by managers for individual benefit, but rather the optimal achievement of common goals and tasks is in the foreground. The team spirit and the constructive feedback associated with it can lead to more community identification and spirit. The mutual stimulation of learning processes simultaneously allows for a shared team development. This strengthens important attributes in cooperation: the cohesion within the team for the common goal achievement is deepened in meaning, responsibility for the process and the result is jointly assumed. At the same time, the diversity within a team is experienced as an enrichment when different knowledge, skills and competencies are brought in to strengthen the company. This immediately shows how synergies can be stimulated and emerge and at the same time be unfolded to the benefit of the entire company. The work within teams is experienced as a division of labor process, the improvement of which everyone can and should contribute.

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10.3 Organizational Perspective A culture of benevolence towards each other across personal, group or departmental boundaries allows for a higher identification with the company. Belonging, individual contribution and the experience of a common “pulling in the same direction” creates a culture for the organization not only of cohesion, but also of shared responsibility for the further development of the organization. The company lives intrapreneurship, more and more ideas and constructive further developments will be the fruits of this new orientation. Culture Hacks are the triggers for finding better solutions through the induced disruptions and pattern breaks. The organization is experienced by the change and adaptation dynamics experienced as a multi-competence organization in which everyone has their place and can contribute their individual competencies for the benefit of all. The company is experienced as a dynamic, innovative, changing organism, the development of which can be controlled to a large extent. The adopted strategy for shaping corporate culture is experienced and thus the confidence in the future viability of the company can be strengthened. The mission, vision and the apostrophized values are lived in everyday work.

10.4 Creating a Methodological Laboratory Opening the organization for Culture Hacks, especially if pursued as a strategic approach, allows for numerous new options for future organizational development. The variety of possible manifestations of Culture Hacks allows for an experimental climate that favors new approaches, not only allows, but actually invites innovation - a space for new perspectives is created that must be used. Innovations do not act as disruptions of existing processes, but as an attempt to move the company forward as a whole with new, not yet tested approaches. In this way, Culture Hacks also create a space in which ambidexterity in the company can be lived. This refers to the ability to allow two different parallel structures - even temporarily - to exist. The good side effect of this open innovation climate results in an experimental spirit that highlights the implementation and evaluation of new methods as the preferred practice. No longer are extensive preparations with many considerations and theoretical dry runs in the foreground, but rather the implementation and evaluation. Agile is lived. The option to discard inadequate solutions when the desired results are not achieved also belongs to the new repertoire of action. In this way, an innovation boost can be experienced throughout the organization.

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At the same time, a mindset of active search for improvements for the organization can be established, which can promote an often previously unknown dynamics. The desire to try something new, to gain experience, to compare creates new future options, the acceptance of which will be higher than without the conscious introduction of Culture Hacks.

10.5 Live Entrepreneurship A welcome effect of Culture Hacks is the experienced possibility of self-efficacy. Culture Hacks live from action, especially induced by the individual - everyone can have an influence on how the company develops. With the Culture Hacks, the employee takes on responsibility for the result of this intervention. This strengthens the identification with the company and the employee experiences himself as a shaping subject that can influence the further development of the company beyond routine processes. The resulting motivation is not to be overestimated. The individual employee - regardless of the hierarchical position - experiences the initiation of an intervention, the implementation and the reaction of the system company to this initiative of the Culture Hacks. This influences the entire context of the company beyond the concrete measure, intrapreneurship can be experienced and, if appropriately valued, the employee increasingly experiences himself as an active participant in the process of shaping the future of the company and as responsible for the overall result.

10.6 Fill Values With Life Many cultural initiatives suffer from the fact that the values and culture factors formulated are not lived, they remain as well-formulated sentences on glossy brochures or adorn displays or the company’s website without any concrete reference to most employees. Culture Hacks always dock on the formulated corporate culture factors, they translate these into daily action and are thus experienced directly by employees. Each Culture Hack should always be placed in context with the corresponding culture factors and thus filled with life. When working systematically, Culture Hacks are prioritized, selectively chosen and focused on specific behaviors—they are thus experienced in the concreteness of everyday practice. Even if Culture Hacks often occur as a discrepancy between the formulated behavioral requirements and the actual action, they serve as a concretization of the often perceived as abstract culture factors, they are thus experienced very plastically. When designing Culture Hacks, users engage in a deeper examination of the respective culture factors, which gain concreteness and clear penetration with regard to the requirements in their respective explicit expression. Through the irritating intervention and the reference back to the culture factors, this understanding of the relevant culture

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factor can be deepened with the employees and with the employees. Corporate culture is brought to life and related to the concrete action and behavior of each individual—corporate culture is literally not only lived, but also understood. This will usually result in each employee experiencing in their everyday work life that their behavior can make a difference. The formulated corporate culture is reflected in one’s own behavior and thinking. This also allows for an intense discussion of corporate culture and actively seek ways to give it even more prominence in everyday work life.

10.7 Let it be Human in the Company Culture Hacks always address the emotions of people. This makes it no longer possible to simply complete the workaday routine in an impersonal, factual, task-oriented manner. Culture Hacks concern thinking and acting, set the individual in concrete relationships to the desired corporate culture. The culture of a company is thus not only visible, but also tangible. There may well be employees who do not want that, who simply want to do their work and do not want to pursue any further identification with their company. These may not appreciate the use of Culture Hacks at all, but see them as unwanted disruptions to their previous routines. For future-oriented companies that are competing for the best products and talents and that are aiming for a deep identification of a large number of employees with their company’s vision and mission in order to achieve sustainable customer relationships, this will simply be a matter of survival. Only then will the innovation power of a company be comprehensively unleashed and the competitive position strengthened. In such a company it is clear that people are not machines that simply follow a given algorithm. People are creative, have ideas and want to contribute—if the conditions are right. Culture Hacks can offer a great incentive for this. Excursus: Empathy

“You have to like people”—that might be the minimum requirement and essence of empathy. In concrete terms, empathy means “the ability and willingness to recognize, understand and feel the feelings, emotions, thoughts, motives and personality traits of another person” (Wikipedia 2020). The mirror neurons (Bauer 2006) play an important role in empathy, which can be evoked, for example, by the techniques of rapport, mirroring and pacing. This refers to the “mirroring” of the other, in which one imitates the posture, breathing, gestures, speech, speed of speech, choice of words and other observable expressions. This usually leads to empathy developing unconsciously. These techniques are used extensively in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

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However, good self-awareness is a necessary prerequisite. According to Badea (2010), empathy is the prerequisite for leadership success, especially for managers: they can motivate themselves and others more, enjoy greater trust—and they also learn faster. However, not everyone is born with the same degree of empathy. Empathy is often divided into (Wikipedia 2020): • emotional empathy: ability to feel the same as other people (compassion) • cognitive empathy: in addition to feelings, also understanding the thoughts and intentions of other people and deriving correct conclusions from their behavior • social empathy: describes the ability to constructively communicate in complex social situations with people of various backgrounds. All three types of empathy are important for the successful use of Culture Hacks, but cognitive empathy should be highlighted in particular. It is made possible by taking on another perspective, whereby the person can put themselves in the inner state of another person. This ability is also differentially expressed in people, but it can always be improved through practice. This is where perspective-taking comes in. This technique is particularly wellknown from social psychology and psychodrama. Here you put yourself in the role and position of the other and try to see the world from their point of view. It is extremely helpful to strive for perspective-taking not only with one person, but also with a group of people whose individual views are influenced by dynamic processes. In research, the “Toronto Empathy Questionnaire” (Spreng et al. 2009) was developed and validated as an instrument for measuring empathy. Empathy can be seen as a learnable and trainable competence through concrete descriptions of behavior and the evaluation of their manifestations. Empathy is therefore rightly considered to be an essential part of leadership competence. Frans de Waal (2008) goes one step further in the claim of empathy and presents its development as our biological heritage and at the same time as the basis and prerequisite for social and moral behavior. Possible Training: 1. Practice taking another person’s perspective with respect to the following five dimensions (Wikipedia 2020): – Correctly decoding nonverbal messages – Experiencing the same emotions as the other person (empathy) – Experiencing similar thoughts and memories – Triggering the same physiological reactions – Triggering impulses to help or support the other person.

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2. Practice taking another group’s perspective in the same 5 dimensions. 3. Practice empathic understanding and a respectful attitude. 4. Maintain an empathy mindset. 5. Get to know the other person’s biography, this will increase understanding and empathy for the other person. You will always find a point of contact that will help you feel interested in the other person. 6. Learn to understand your own emotional world, that is a process of personality development, more than just learning a new technique. Of course, empathy can also be misused for manipulative purposes, as Bloom (2016) points out in particular.

The emotional component of Culture Hacks makes trust in managers and colleagues tangible, familiarity in the team perceived, support and thinking along experienced from others. The ability to rely on colleagues and superiors is experienced as a deeply human behavior in the organizational context—this experience is enriching for most employees, strengthens both identification and identity in the team and with the company. This also stimulates team spirit, mutual support, thinking in solutions and improvements. The attractiveness as an employer is increased as a result for many, the place of work and the activity are experienced as enriching for one’s own personal development.

10.8 Live Corporate Culture—Implement Agility Through Hacks We mentioned it at the beginning of this book—Culture Hacks promise speed, proactivity and agility. All characteristics of a modern working day, which are highly valued by many employees. So how can the much-vaunted agility be strengthened in a variety of ways through Culture Hacks? Hacks aim for quick solutions, they are often planned for the long term, but you don’t have to wait long for the possible success (or failure). This creates a culture of accelerated experience, there is no long delay between stimulus and reaction, the feedback is immediate. This gives the corporate system a dynamic and, as already mentioned, invites to a conscious culture of experimentation. This also creates an atmosphere of openness to innovation. Proactivity, responsiveness, immediate feedback become part of everyday life—and reinforce each other. This has an impact on the mindset of employees, the mentality in the work process, as it is lived by the company, the management and the colleagues, can develop more freely and creatively. This benefits everyone, the individual as a valued employee and the company, through the employees who think along and bring the company forward.

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The use of Culture Hacks can significantly revitalize the entire company and move it forward. A concept therefore worth living—for all those involved. Good luck!

References Badea L (2010) The role of empathy in developing the leader’s emotional intelligence. Theoret Appl Econ 17(10):69–78 Bauer J (2006) Warum ich fühle, was du fühlst. Intuitive Kommunikation und das Geheimnis der Spiegelneurone. Heyne, München Bloom P (2016) Against empathy: the case for rational compassion. Bodley Head, London Spreng N et al (2009) The toronto empathy questionnaire: scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. J Pers Assess 91:62–71 Waal d F (2008) Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu Rev Psychol 59:279–300 Wikipedia (2020) Empathie. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathie. Accessed 6 Sept 2020

Epilog

Now the first step is done—you have worked through the book. What's next? My appeal to you now: Put some of it into practice! And above all, go about it strategically. What scope does your competence area give you? Stretch it to the maximum. Whether you are at the top of the company—then you hold all the cards in your hand—or department head, team leader or project manager. You can be active in all roles and benefit greatly from the result. Be brave! Lift the potential that is in you, the employees, the team, the entire organization. Companies will not be successful in the future because they use new technologies, bring new products to market or have innovative business models, they will be successful because they manage to develop and raise the potential of employees that leads to the developments just described. Then they will be successful sustainably. Look for allies! Preferably with your employees. Employees are much more productive and experimental than some studies would have us believe. However, the conditions must be right, employees want to engage. Create these conditions, make them curious about this journey and new experiences. Raise the bar together for a supportive and challenging work environment and thus the shared social expectation. Involve your employees in this process! The more intensively and comprehensively you discuss the planned Culture Hack concept with your employees, explore possibilities and approaches, conceptualize together, the more your corporate culture will significantly improve during this process. Communicate openly and act transparently. Then it will be understood as a joint task with joint responsibility anyway and this will dynamize additional energies.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to SpringerVerlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2023 J. Herget, Strategic Culture Hacks, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66827-6

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Be curious and make others curious! Maintaining the status quo is no longer enough. There are numerous new developments, whether gamification, methods, tools and tools, formats, organizational theories, coaching and management approaches. Stay on the ball—thanks to social networks on the Internet, it has never been so easy to get experience reports from peers. Ask questions, join discussions and a dialogue. Get advice, take coaching. You will receive answers and can benefit from the experience of others—and share your own. You will be rewarded because trying new things and developing new skills will delight you and your team. Be patient and have a long-term view—also of yourself! Trying is important and will become even more important in the future. With openness, a spirit of experimentation, a love of mistakes and the necessary patience, you will go far. Please note the virulent cognitive bias: We overestimate what we can achieve in the short term and underestimate what we can achieve in the long term. Keep your breath, a vision board and a roadmap should accompany you well. Please do not be hesitant to explore unfamiliar methods! Analogies, changing contexts, the courage to transfer and adapt are in demand future virtues. But also personal growth through mindfulness and work with one's own blind spots. Out-of-the-box thinking brings numerous new challenges, but also a permanent spirit of renewal. Breaks are important, but also give it gas again. Just like an interval marathon. Tell your stories further, let your employees become ambassadors! Create narratives, use the instrument of storytelling for your team or the whole company. Stories create a common framework, promote identification and identity, strengthen a sense of belonging. Become the cell of a new corporate culture, carry this message into the whole company, the fruits will come back. Even your customers will notice. The quality of the whole work and the well-being factor will improve rapidly. Celebrate successes, learn from failures and encourage each other. A High-Five gives you wings. This is how you will be successful! If you take all this to heart, success will not be long in coming, quite the contrary, it will be unstoppable. And it all starts with the first step, if you have read this far, this is already done. So take the second step now, create your first concept, which culture factors could be strengthened with which Culture Hacks? All further steps will become easier for you … Do it! Now!