Measuring culture change
The other day I heard the top administrator for NASA interviewed. He was asked if NASA has been able to change it’s culture. He responded, “I don’t think you can measure culture so I don’t know if we have changed it.” I would disagree with that statement in this way; not all aspects of culture can be measured but the most important ones can be measured. What is required is the political will inside an organization to measure and hold management accountable for the results. Measured properly, culture can be changed in 3-4 years. Assuming the change is for the better, such culture change will result in long-term returns on investment. The challenge is to determine what indicators will tell you the culture is changing and set in place the metrics. In my work, I strongly believe an organization should see measurable results in 6 months with a full return on investment from the change efforts in 12-18 months. Once this type of goal is established, and the metrics are put in place, an organization often moves rapidly to achieve that goal.