Shifting Culture Means Shifting the Status Quo

I had the privilege of attending #SHRM18 conference last week and heard #AdamGrant talk about his book, “Originals, How Non-Conformists Move the World”. Admittedly, I was unaware of Adam’s ground-breaking work prior to this moment and I was sweep off my chair, so to speak.

Aside from Adam’s clever antics and humor, he did a great job of articulating why Culture needs to change all the time. As he introduced this concept, I built a story in my head that Culture is pivotal to the company brand and the talent working there and shifting Culture is like a ship with no sail or direction. I had worked in companies that were siloed and had multiple subcultures by department or business unit which felt disjointed and seemed to take away from the brand. So, the idea of a shifting culture brought up some resistance to the idea. I was ready for him to challenge my belief which he did with guns a blazing.

According to Adam’s research, primary to a shifting Culture is that people you hire most succeed when they have a good cultural fit and embody the Mission and Values of the company. This was based on his study of successful startups that survived for 15 years or more.  However, what he noticed was that post IPO, the success started to wane because there was less diversity of hire and challenge to the status quo.  Meaning the Culture became stagnant, individuals were less engaged and not pushing innovative ideas.  Sound familiar???


What I found refreshing about Adam’s speech was the concept of someone being a cultural contributor. Someone who is willing to be a non-conformist and challenge the status quo by speaking up about what is broken and sharing new ideas in an environment that is built on trust and respect.

I could feel my resistance melt away with a profound shift and excitement begin to build because I resonated with this level of non-conformity. If companies are going to have sustainable growth and remain competitive, change is necessary, and innovation is key. As a Talent Acquisition Strategist, I could not agree more that for innovation to flow, disruption to culture and status quo is necessary.

I encourage you all to join me in reading Adam Grant’s book and to chime in with your opinion on how your organization hires top talent while fostering the cultural contributor mindset.

Christine Bedalow is the Founder of Talent Conscious, a company focused on creating strategies to attract, hire and retain top talent for small to mid-size companies. To schedule a call or to learn more  reach out at www.talentconscious.com/contact.html.

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Categories: Engagement, Culture

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