Culture - Intertwingled: Information Changes Everything - page 93

people were asked “Do you intend to buy a new car in the next six months?” The act of asking
the question increased purchase rates by 35 percent. cxix In another study, changing a retirement
plan from opt-in to opt-out bumped up long-term enrollment from 65 to 98 percent. cxx
The practice of information architecture has been all about nudging users by organizing context.
We design taxonomies, order search results, and define all sorts of defaults to shape behavior by
priming. Now, if we hope to create deep, enduring change, we must turn our rhetoric on
ourselves. This is the hidden need Dave Gray has met with culture mapping.
In most large-scale organizational change projects, culture is the “elephant in the room.” It is not only un-
discussed, it is undiscussable, at least in any serious, meaningful way. And yet it is the biggest threat to
any major change. cxxi
To understand and change a culture, you must make the invisible visible, so Dave offers us a
“Culture Map,” inspired by the work of Ed Schein, that asks a series of questions.
Evidence . How do we behave? What is observable ( the language we use, the spaces we work in, how we collab-
orate, compete, create, control )?
Levers . What are the rules of the game that drive behavior ( who controls what, decisions, resource allocation,
rewards, workspace design )?
Values . What are the stated values ( public statements )? How about the acted values ( inferred from evidence,
demonstrated by behavior )?
Assumptions . Based on acted values. Why do we believe they will help us succeed ( or confer competitive
advantage in our marketplace )?
These questions are designed to help us reveal and map the structure of a culture, since the first
step towards change is awareness of the architecture that already exists.
A third means of change is direct intervention in the routine, unconscious behavior patterns we
call habits. In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explores the science of habit formation and
explains how to lose weight, achieve goals, and be more productive by hacking habits. He ar-
gues that “keystone habits” like exercise, diet, and family dinners can be fashioned into levers of
change and used to start a chain reaction.
When you learn to force yourself to go to the gym or start your homework or eat a salad instead of a
hamburger, part of what's happening is that you're changing how you think. People get better at regulat-
ing their impulses. They learn how to distract themselves from temptations. And once you've got into
that willpower groove, your brain is practiced at helping you focus on a goal. cxxii
We need not change our habits all at once. In fact, it's best to start small. As B.J. Fogg, the invent-
or of Tiny Habits, explains:
The number one mistake people make is not going tiny enough. If you're trying to make a change in your
life, you need to add something to your routine that is smaller than small, smaller than tiny, something
minuscule, that takes almost no effort or time. This eliminates not only running as a new habit, but also
running around the block or running down the driveway. Just put on your running shoes. That's it. Put
them on in the morning every day for five days. You're done. Push-ups? You don't do 10 push-ups. You
do one. Flossing? You don't floss your teeth. You floss one tooth. cxxiii