How hard is it to change workplace culture

Many people who inherit a team, a department or an organisation have been heard to say, We need to change the culture here. But how easy is that to do?  There is tons of research out there that culture change programs mostly fail.  Changing culture is tricky because we all have our perspectives and for most of us our perspective are our Truths.  It is interesting when we interview people and encourage them to describe what it is like working at Acme Co. The different experiences and stories can make you wonder do they even work in the same company let along the same team? No wonder many of us are not on the same page. This is so true of change. Especially of the people driving the changes compared to those who are being led through the changes. Each sees things from different perspectives. For change leaders it is aspirational  - they want to get to that happy space.  For people participating in the change the message can sound like a rejection of the past they had experienced - So you’re saying everything we did in the past was wrong?  People usually don’t say it, but they often think it. And that’s when some of us are no longer on the same page.

…

Many change leaders want to think we are doing this change with you. For people who are being told that the culture needs to change it may feel and sound like it is being done to them.  Like the adage about throwing the baby out with the bath water, change leaders who say, ‘We need to change the culture’ can lose the good bits in their eagerness to reshape the workplace.  In overlooking what was good and what should be kept they create a rod for their backs by getting people’s backs up.  The message of change can sound like a rejection of the past. The hard part is finding the good bits in the old norms, behaviours and practices that you want to keep.  Finding it is hard because it’s not easy to see.  It’s like the flecks of gold in the sand.