Habits & expectations equal culture
Surgeon Atul Gawande said that, "Culture is the sum total of shared habits and expectations."
What are some of our habits?
Frame compensation as hourly rates
Maintain a hierarchical structure at all times
Ask the same people for advice
Follow traditions in procedures and calendar for activities
Use the same marketing language; engage with the same (type of) patrons
Maybe we maintain those habits because we know they've worked in the past. Maybe it's because they're easy, the path of least resistance. Maybe they're comfortable and make us feel safe. Maybe it's what everyone else is doing. Maybe we think it's the right thing to do.
Regardless of why we've developed those habits, they result in some expectations. Here are some expectations that may come with each of the above habits:
Habit: Frame compensation as hourly rates.
Expectations: Time is money. Every second is precious. Costs can be translated into hours of "work." Musicians are compensated for only "onsite" work time (rehearsals and concerts). This mindset neglects the nuance that a large amount of work musicians do is outside of the rehearsal. These expectations impact the intrinsic motivation musicians feel when they expect their full work to not be reflected in the compensation. It also leads to higher chances of misunderstanding and mistrust.Habit: Maintain a hierarchical structure at all times.
Expectations: Status determines importance and value in a person. The conductor is always right and knows everything. Musicians should not need to have artistic opinions, and they know less than the conductor. Those lower in the hierarchy should not have power.Habit: Ask the same people for advice.
Expectations: Those people are the only ones who know how to help us. Only they hold the answers. Their opinions are the only ones that matter.Habit: Follow traditions in procedures and calendar for activities.
Expectations: We are proud of our traditions and they take precedence. There are things we do and there are things we don't do. We know when things are going to happen and can expect certain parameters. There are certain repertoire we perform on specific occasions (for example, outreach venues). How we have been doing things will continue to work and make us who we are.Habit: Use the same marketing language; engage with the same (type of) patrons.
Expectations: The same people will come to our concerts. We know exactly what they want. Those are the important people to keep targeting because we know they will come.
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These habits and expectations became our culture. The small actions and mindsets accumulated over time–day by day, season by season–turns into "this is just how we do things." We end up accepting things as they are. We become comfortable and complacent.
Of course, our culture can be the mechanisms through which we thrive or stagnate. Not all our habits and expectations are bad. What is not broken doesn't need to be fixed.
At the same time, the world changes and our needs and desires as people and organizations also change with it. Sometimes our expectations can stop being true. It can stop helping us and instead turn around to hold us back. Even when we are aware our expectations hold us back, our comfortable habits lock us into a trajectory that's very difficult to alter.
What can we do about this?
Here are three sets of questions you may ask to audit a culture through the lens of habits and expectations:
1) Are our habits on autopilot?
When did these habits start?
What were the circumstances under which they came about?
Who made those decisions and why?
What are our current goals, mission, and circumstances?
Do the habits still make sense given our present circumstances? Do they contribute to our goals?
2) Reflect on our challenges
How may our habits and expectations actually contribute to the challenges we have?
How may our habits and expectations limit our potential?
How may our habits create blindspots?
How may our habits help us avoid our fears?
3) Discover ways to improve
What would happen if we reversed the parameters of the habit? (For example, "We never ask the same people for advice.")
What would happen if we reframed the parameters of the habit? (For example, "Frame compensation as supporting a creative lifestyle.")
Who or what is really stopping us to make changes to our habits? Is it ourselves?
What is one way to tweak a habit to make it 10% more effective?
How may we tweak our expectations to yield new habits that will serve our goals better?
Regularly performing an audit on our habits and expectations can prompt us to rethink our culture and how we are shaping it - knowingly or unknowingly. Identifying the mechanisms behind our trajectories can allow us awareness to actively change that trajectory when we want to do so.
We can begin to create an intentional culture.
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