Journey To The Emerald City

About the Author

Roger Connors and Tom Smith are celebrated figures in the field of business leadership and organizational management. They co-founded the international leadership and management consulting firm, Partners In Leadership, Inc., and authored the bestselling book The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability. Both authors hold MBAs from Brigham Young University and have dedicated their careers to helping organizations achieve a competitive edge through the development of a Culture of Accountability.

Main Idea

Journey to the Emerald City by Roger Connors and Tom Smith elucidates the pivotal role of personal accountability in achieving organizational success. The book introduces The Results Pyramid(R) Model as a comprehensive tool for leaders to manage cultural change, promoting a mindset where every member of the organization takes ownership of their role in achieving the collective goals. By fostering a Culture of Accountability, organizations can drive significant transformations, aligning individual actions with the overarching mission and goals.

Table of Contents

1. Understanding Company Culture
2. Accelerating the Journey
3. Shifting to a New Culture
4. Generating Action That Gets Results
5. Identifying Beliefs That Produce Action
6. Creating Experiences That Instill the Right Beliefs
7. Accelerating Culture Change
8. Employing Leadership to Move the Change Forward

Understanding Company Culture

Before initiating any cultural change, it's crucial to understand the existing components of the organizational culture. Connors and Smith emphasize that effective leaders, whether consciously or unconsciously, influence the beliefs and actions of their people to achieve the desired results. The Results Pyramid Model aids in accelerating necessary cultural shifts by illustrating the interconnectedness of experiences, beliefs, and actions in producing organizational results.

“An organization's leader must create its culture. The organization's culture will create its results.” - Roger Connors and Tom Smith

For instance, a leader might observe that despite excellent product quality, customer satisfaction is low. By delving into the organizational culture, the leader may discover that employees lack a sense of ownership, leading to poor customer interactions. Here, the Results Pyramid would guide the leader to create experiences that foster a belief in the importance of customer satisfaction, resulting in actions that enhance customer experience.

Accelerating the Journey

Connors and Smith draw an analogy to Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, suggesting that a clear and straightforward path is essential for cultural transformation. Leaders need to channel individual and group efforts precisely to achieve organizational goals. In today's competitive environment, creating a culture that achieves precision is not just achievable; it's necessary.

They introduce four central principles for cultural transformation:

• An organization's leader must create its culture.
• The organization's culture will create its results.
• A Culture of Accountability is the most effective culture.
• Accelerating the transition to a Culture of Accountability creates competitive and organizational advantage.

Consider a technology company aiming to innovate rapidly. By instilling a Culture of Accountability, each team member understands their role in driving innovation, leading to a collective effort that results in groundbreaking products and a strong market position.

Shifting to a New Culture

Shifting to a new culture requires practical steps to identify and implement the necessary changes. Connors and Smith explain that leaders must shift the four major components of culture: Results, Actions, Beliefs, and Experiences. Defining new results (R2) that differ from the current results (R1) necessitates shifts in the existing culture (C1) to achieve the desired future culture (C2).

“A culture shift changes the way people think and act in order to achieve a new result.” - Roger Connors and Tom Smith

For example, a retail chain aiming to enhance customer service might define R2 as increased customer satisfaction scores. To achieve this, the company must shift from a transactional culture (C1) to a customer-centric culture (C2), where every employee feels accountable for customer satisfaction.

Generating Action That Gets Results

Effective cultural change requires identifying what actions to stop, start, and continue. Management must create an environment where individuals continuously assess their actions based on desired results. Connors and Smith stress that generating the right actions involves ongoing vigilance and effort.

For instance, if a company aims to reduce product defects, it might identify the need to stop rushing production, start implementing thorough quality checks, and continue using high-quality materials. By fostering a sense of personal accountability for these actions, the organization can achieve significant improvements in product quality.

Identifying Beliefs That Produce Action

Organizational culture is rooted in a system of beliefs. Connors and Smith advocate for developing a set of beliefs that work together to motivate the right actions. This process often involves creating a Cultural Beliefs(R) Statement, which serves as a roadmap for the desired cultural shift.