What is your organisational focus? Are you a compliance focused organisation or do you have a focus on continual improvement?
It is a sad fact that many companies that focus purely on compliance tend to stagnate. They might have moments once a year where everything is done perfectly, but frequently I have found these companies have set standards for the wrong reasons and they don’t really serve the organisation.
By contrast, improvement focused organisations may find themselves expending great efforts to fix whatever squeaky wheel is loudest, but their efforts can be quite inconsistent because there is no external motivator for the improvement. I call these companies developing or emerging as they fix the issues when they come up. What they don’t do well is anticipate their needs and embed these into their strategic planning and objective setting.
Immature organisations without a real focus on either are typical of start-ups, and they would benefit from considering the culture they want to develop in the organisation in the long term. They are perfectly positioned to embed routines in the organisation to deliver excellence.
“Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage…Develop a strong corporate culture first and foremost”. – David Cummings.
A balanced organisation that embeds continual improvement in its strategic planning and uses compliance to enhance rather than constrict will find that it is able to sustain a culture of organisational excellence.