ELF14 Steve Simpson Session 1

Cracking the culture codeWelcome!!

with Steve Simpson

Copyright © 2014 Steve Simpson

Morals to the story?• Winning teams don’t fight, losing teams

do• It’s much more fun (and less dangerous)

to be in a winning team• ‘Fighting’ need not be physical - there are

other ways to be at war• A fighting team won’t win - doesn’t matter

how good the individual players are...• This wouldn’t happen in a great culture

0

25

50

75

100

20% or more 50% or more 80% or more 100% or more

9

24

56

96

3

21

58

92

4

19

40

91

Senior managerMiddle managerNon-manager

If the culture of your workplace was to become as good as it realistically could, how much improvement would there be on people's performance/productivity?

Survey of 452 readers of ‘Cultural Intelligence’

Investment in Education Success (IES)• Communities of Schools would form to

encourage collaboration between school governance, leadership and teachers to improve their practice and deliver shared achievement objectives, which they would collectively set.

Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) Report• While educational expertise is a necessary

condition for effective leadership, it is not sufficient; leaders must also build trust relationships if they are to engender and sustain improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders who show regard for others and treat them with respect, and are seen by them as competent and having integrity, are trusted. Such leaders can foster the levels of inquiry, risk-taking, and collaborative effort that school improvement requires.

At our meetings it isn’t worth complaining because nothing will get done

The only time anyone get spoken to by the boss is when something is wrong

Our funniest jokes usually involve making jokes about our work colleagues

We go through the motions with our bosses, once they’ve gone we do what we want

• The social well being of staff is extremely important, so we joke, laugh and socialise a lot

• The leadership team has exclusivity in so far as you are able to relate to their style of humour and their ‘inside’ stories (N.B. the emphasis here is intended to convey the point that you had to conform)

• A sign of being included as part of the ‘leader group’ is being invited to play golf

• The only time students are talked about in the staff room is when they have done something we can laugh about

Hotel Adelphi...

What are the Key Cultural Attributes (KCAs) we need in place to ensure our future success?