• Agile Transformation

When do we actually think we are doing well here?

The deadline has been met. The targets are in. The audit has been completed without comment. There is a nod. Maybe a brief “well done.” And then we move on. In every organization, success is named. Sometimes explicitly, often implicitly. Far too little, of course. But apart from what is celebrated, what is not celebrated is at least as interesting. What does not get applause. What passes by quietly. And that is exactly what this article is about. About the question of when we actually think we are doing well here.

In your organization, what are the (conscious or unconscious) criteria for success? Feel free to name them out loud. Because often we don’t voice them, but we act on them. And then something predictable gradually happens: what gets applause, grows. What gets recognition, repeats itself.

And then what doesn’t get attention? The team that tried something new and learned a lot from it. Someone who had that awkward conversation that really improved collaboration. The colleague who admitted his mistake, preventing greater damage. That fades into the background. Not because it is unimportant. But because it was not an explicit success.

Want to understand what an organization is really driving at? Then look not only at the plans or ambitions, but at what is consistently named here as “done well.” And what is not. Just as we explored in this series of blogs on corporate culture what holds us together and what we are committed to, this one is also about the invisible patterns that make up culture.

How I came to see this for myself

I have often coached teams that said, “We want to celebrate, improve and learn more.” A fine intention. But when I asked, “What do you guys actually want to celebrate more?” Then it was almost always about meeting deadlines, targets or audits. That’s certainly not wrong, and by no means meant to be unfair. But it does have an effect. Because what you reward, you repeat. And what structurally gets no attention, disappears.

Success criteria are powerful steering tools in an organization’s culture. They determine where tomorrow’s energy will go again. Often without anyone’s explicit choice. Along the four culture values that recur throughout this series, you’ll see how differently success can be defined.

Four ways success is defined

Along the four cultural values that recur throughout this series, see how different success can be defined.

1.Innovate & discover

Here, success is: learning. Gaining new insights. Trying something that wasn’t there before. That requires room for mistakes and reflection. For the ability to appreciate even small steps forward. At the same time, too much freedom can lead to loss of energy or the feeling that nothing gets completed.

Reflection Questions: When do we say, “we learned something from this”? And do we dare to call it real success?

2. Performing & winning

Here success is: delivering what was agreed upon. Preferably more than that. Results are visible and measurable. That gives clarity and focus. It makes expectations sharp. But it can also make what is not directly measurable count for less.

Reflection Questions: What do we celebrate when things are going well? And what remains structurally invisible?

3. Managing & securing

Here is success: predictability. No surprises. Processes that run as intended. That gives peace of mind and reliability. It protects what has been built. But it can also make deviation automatically seen as risk.

Reflection Questions: When do we consider something “good enough”? And what do we do with deviations?

4. Collaborate & connect

Here is success: commitment. People who stay. Teams that work well together. That says a lot about safety and trust. At the same time, it requires keenness not to lose sight of results as well.

Reflection questions: What do we value in collaboration? And by doing so, what do we say about performance?

What do we celebrate and what do we learn from it?

In this series, we previously looked at how we lead here, how we work together, what keeps us together and what we actually bet on. This last question in the series on culture perhaps touched the heart of it all. When do we say to each other, “we did this right”? Because how you define success determines where you bet on tomorrow. And thus who you want to be as an organization. You don’t change culture just by asking for different behavior. You change it by making other things important.