Shortcomings in organisational culture are one of the main barriers to company success in the digital age… In our experience, executives who wait for organisational cultures to change organically will move too slowly as digital penetration grows, blurs the boundaries between sectors, and boosts competitive intensity.
Executives must be proactive in shaping and measuring culture, approaching it with the same rigour and discipline with which they tackle operational transformations. This includes changing structural and tactical elements in an organisation that run counter to the culture change they are trying to achieve. Building a culture where people feel comfortable trying things that might fail starts with senior leaders’ attitudes and role modelling.
They must break the status quo of hierarchical decision making, overcome a focus on optimizing rather than innovating, and celebrate learning from failure. Although companies have long declared their intention to get close to their customers, the digital age is forcing them to actually do it, as well as providing them with better means to do so.
So, a customer-centric organisational culture, in other words, is more than merely a good thing — it’s becoming a matter of survival. The good news is that getting closer to your customers can help reduce the risk of experimentation (as customers help co-create products through open innovation) and support fast-paced change.
