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What No One Tells You About Building Culture
42 Plays8 days ago
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Danny Wareham, an organisational psychologist, coach, and speaker with over 25 years of experience. We took a deep dive into organisational culture - what it is, what it isn’t, and the common missteps leaders make when trying to improve it. Danny has such a wealth of experience and shared incredible insights on how to align culture with strategy to get real results.
We covered answers to questions, like:
- Why isn’t creating a “fun” workplace enough to drive success?
- What’s the real purpose of organisational culture, and how can leaders use it as a tool?
- When does communication actually undermine engagement?
- Why do we still think pay is a motivator when all the evidence says otherwise?
- How can leaders step back and focus on leading environments instead of people?
Find out more about Danny Wareham at dannywareham.co.uk or connect with him on LinkedIn
Enjoy!
Get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time at visibly-different.co.uk/increasing-your-impact
And if you enjoyed the Podcast please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.
Got a question for me? I'm just a message away on LinkedIn.
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Transcript
The Role of Culture in Organizational Success
00:00:00
Speaker
a
00:00:03
Speaker
the Kool-Aid of culture that we've been fed over many years, it's about creating a place that is fun. Hopefully it is fun, but that's not its prime motive. Instead, if we think of culture as being a tool that helps you nurture the behaviours that are going to help your organisation be successful, what behaviours do you need? Do we need processes that are innovative? Or do we need processes that are managing crisis?
00:00:31
Speaker
Leadership is not about creating a great place to work. It's about creating a place where great work is done.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to the Visible Leader podcast. I'm Corinne Hines, and I take a practical approach to leadership, unpacking the art and science of leading well. And together with my
00:01:14
Speaker
My memory of after-school clubs was breaking the speed limit, so I wasn't late and can avoid the disappointed look from the wonderful woman who ran it.
Unintended Consequences of Organizational Policies
00:01:25
Speaker
So when I heard about research that studied the impact of finding late parents, I was curious. Surely if you hit parents where it hurts, it would reduce lateness, but no, quite the opposite.
00:01:38
Speaker
Without guilt, shame and disappointed looks, parents were happy to pay for the convenience of being late. So people, what might be going on in your business where you're trying to encourage the right behaviours but it's having the opposite effect?
00:01:57
Speaker
Today, I'm really pleased to say I was joined by Danny Wareham, and we explored the impact of culture and the unintended consequences that can arise when you're trying to improve things. Danny is an organizational psychologist, a coach, and a speaker with over 25 years of experience across a number of different sectors.
00:02:21
Speaker
He works with leaders to identify the specific behaviors and cultures needed to support their strategy. And he shares some really valuable insights as well as being a really interesting guy. I really hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
00:02:42
Speaker
a
00:02:45
Speaker
Hello, Danny. Welcome to the show. Hello, Karin. It's lovely to be invited and I hope you're well this morning. I am. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. I would like your perspective.
Culture as a Strategic Tool
00:02:58
Speaker
What is culture not? Culture is not frivolity and fun.
00:03:05
Speaker
So when we think of culture, we often think of, you know, exciting, energetic workplace full of fun and there's a buzz in the air and, you know, we've got dogs under the desk and we get dressed in our football kits on a Friday. And, you know, isn't that the sort of place you want to work? Well, congratulations. You're a terrible funeral directors.
00:03:23
Speaker
Culture is a strategic tool that helps you get the behaviors that help you be successful. And the behaviors in a fintech are different to a funeral director's. So throwing beanbag furniture and pizza Fridays at it might work, but it can work a lot better if it's done strategically.
00:03:39
Speaker
Lovely. That culture you just described is my worst nightmare. I don't want your dog under my desk.
00:03:49
Speaker
And I don't want dress down. What has happened to dress down Friday? That seems to have gone. It's either dressed down every day or just they've realised them. It's one of the um unintended side effects, I think, of the pandemic is that universally we decided that no one's going to iron any clothes anymore.
00:04:06
Speaker
we have been our ah So everybody's just far more relaxed every day, not not just
Dress Codes and Uniforms Post-Pandemic
00:04:13
Speaker
Fridays. In my daughter's school, they um I mean, this was primary school. I wonder about the research panel, but they were saying that the impact of dress down days has an impact on the productivity or whatever you'd call it, of the children. It had a direct relationship, so they didn't dish them out very often.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's one of the what we psychologists called artifacts. so One of the kind of visible things that you see around culture is uniforms, is the symbols that we demonstrate. And our education systems tend to rely on conformity. And one of the artifacts of that is everybody looking very similar, using similar language, following the same kind of structure in terms of the curriculum that they follow.
00:04:57
Speaker
There is a separate conversation that's probably for another podcast on whether that's the right approach based on what is it that you want to achieve. But there is something to say that we are naturally conformist animals.
Rethinking Leadership and Cultural Practices
00:05:08
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that probably is a different episode, Danny, but I mean, I'm up for it.
00:05:13
Speaker
We could talk about a whole load of things and it would be super interesting. However, we need to focus, laser focus on something. And you know how I like to focus on things that are upending some of our traditionally held views about leadership or culture, that we really just receive wisdom, we think they are true, objectively true. And I like looking under the surface of that and challenging that ah wee bit. So I started talking about what culture is not, and that led to really understanding this sense of what happened at certain points where
00:05:55
Speaker
We had an over-focus on the fun, thinking that was really going to get results. So I wanted to talk to you today about your top areas around culture that are often miss, there's misfires. So I'm thinking about how people communicate and I'm thinking people at like the leadership level, the board level, what they initiate.
00:06:24
Speaker
to improve the workplace, the culture. Cause I think a lot of this comes from a good place. I think a lot of people have good intentions and you know, people have got bad intentions. This podcast isn't for them anyway. They're not going to be listening to this seriously. And I don't think there's many of them, but if you've got good intentions, but things are misfiring, this is the episode. So over to you, Danny, where are we starting?
Aligning Culture with Organizational Goals
00:06:49
Speaker
It's such a ah big question. So to go back to your first point, yes, we're absolutely aligned that the kind of Kool-Aid of culture that we've been fed over many years, people with the best of intentions have kind of interpreted culture as it's about creating a place that is fun. You know, employee engagement is about fun.
00:07:09
Speaker
Hopefully it is fun, but that's that's not its prime motive. Instead, if we think of culture as being a tool that helps you nurture the behaviors that are going to help your organization be successful, what behaviors do you need? And a lot of organizations don't do that piece of the work first. and Do we need processes that are innovative, or do we need processes that are managing crisis?
00:07:34
Speaker
And in that sense, it changes the view of culture from being good culture or bad culture to culture just being a tool. For example, if you look at the armed forces, their culture is heavily siloed. It's high trust, but low opacity. So I'm going to do my job and I'm going to trust that everybody else in the other companies are doing theirs. but I don't really have visibility of it.
00:07:56
Speaker
It drives high specialism, so I'm not going to do much, but I'm going to do it really, really well. That's a great culture if you need to manage crises. If you take that culture and put it into Google, you stop all innovation. But at the same time, if you take Google's, you know, try things and fail fast and learn and put that in the army, then some borders are going to change.
00:08:18
Speaker
So neither of those cultures in of itself is good or bad. It's the context that it's in. Does it encourage the behaviors you need for the success of that particular organization? So the first step is, what do you want to be famous for? What is that kind of future vision? Where are you heading? And then do the kind of diagnostic of what behaviors are going to support us, and then do the cultural piece of what are our processes, protocols, language, comms, leadership styles, et cetera, that are going to encourage it.
00:08:46
Speaker
Unfortunately, we tend to do it the other way, a bit cart before the horse. Let's just create a commune in our workplaces where everybody gets along and sings Kumbaya, which is fabulous, but it needs some direction. It needs some strategy. It needs some purpose. Absolutely.
Subtle Cultural Challenges
00:09:00
Speaker
So what what do you think? If you think about the, we're going to start with the wrongness first. What's what's happening that's wrong so we can recognize ourselves in it?
00:09:11
Speaker
So what are the sort of top, you know not red flags, because they might be happening in a functioning organization where things are fine. This isn't like things are completely failing. this is just We're so used to it that we we think it's normal.
00:09:29
Speaker
Absolutely. I do speak in metaphor and one of my favorite is the, you know, a fish doesn't know it lives in water because that's just how it is here. yeah And culture is very similar. The people standing on the edge of the pond looking into your organization can see the bits that aren't quite right. But when you're in the water, it can be a little bit more challenging. Probably the best way to think about culture is that It's like the wind in that you can't necessarily see it, but you can see its effects. And when it's blowing with you, everything's a little bit easier. And when it's blowing across you or in your face, everything's a little bit harder. And in business, harder means more expensive. It means that your decision making might move like molasses. So your metaphorical red flags would be, you may still be being successful. You may be still hitting your targets and your KPIs.
00:10:16
Speaker
But could it be done more easily? Could it be done with less resistance? Could it be done with more purposefulness? One of the challenges I come across in culture is that view that we're already successful and therefore we must have a good culture.
00:10:32
Speaker
And instead of thinking, well, actually, maybe that cultural wind is blowing me slightly off course. How much easier could it be if we were more aligned towards a destination, towards that kind of vision?
Balancing Innovation with Harmony
00:10:43
Speaker
And it will manifest in lots of different ways. And so some of them are really pleasant. I'm working with the clients at the moment who are fabulous as a place to work. They've got great perks. They've got really well paid. There is almost zero conflict.
00:11:00
Speaker
In personality terms, we have a lot of high agreeables as people, so very collaborative and warm and rapport building. It's fabulous. And the challenge is that their market is changing. There's going to be more competition. There's going to be more people entering their market. So actually, they're now in a position where they need more innovation. And innovation doesn't happen without some friction. But they don't have the environment that allows people to disagree.
00:11:30
Speaker
And they they almost have a resilience towards creating any sort of um disagreement because they see that purely as conflict and fighting rather than it being a fuel for innovation. So to look at the organization, it's a well-known organization. You would think they're fabulous and I want to work there and you know it's kind of a choice. I mean, I do. I just like to say I would like to work there. I'm up for like a agreeable environment. yeah I do know that that is necessarily what's needed. I don't care. I still want to work there. And that's kind of the point. It's the, are we distracted by what I call the shiny, shiny, you know, the perks and the dogs under the desk and the pizza Fridays and and various other things.
00:12:13
Speaker
Whereas actually it needs to be both. You need both culture and strategy. You need the where are we going or why are we going there and how will we know that we've got there? And you need to nurture the behaviors that are gonna help you on that journey rather than let's create an environment where everybody loves getting together, discussing ideas out loud and then the meetings end and there's no actual action. There's no actual decision because it's so nice here. We don't wanna rock the boat and change the status quo.
00:12:41
Speaker
So if you were going to sum this one up, this this kind of thing that people do, leaders do, which but needs to be rethought, how would you just kind of sum up in like a couple of words? Leaders often, we're taught to assume positive intent in others and really care about our people.
00:13:03
Speaker
Those are absolutely true. However, we should also challenge our own beliefs around why are we here? Because we all have blind spots. If we're naturally agreeable, then actually having red lines holding people to account and know asking for the business and chasing payments can be more uncomfortable for us. But we have to look there if we're going to be leaders.
The Importance of Self-Awareness in Leadership
00:13:24
Speaker
We have to have that self-awareness of when we're at our best and what are our kind of blind spots and Achilles heels.
00:13:30
Speaker
So if I was to sum it up, it all comes back to the reason there is a self-awareness chapter in every leadership book ever published. It's that self-awareness. When are you at your best and what are your blind spots?
00:13:42
Speaker
So we're looking at a board that are over-focused on the environment in which we operate and making sure that people, ah they'll do a survey and they will tick quite high on their engagement. yep So my line manager treats me well, my line manager's there for me. yeah So they might over focus on, well, actually this is good. we We want more of this because if people are happy, then we will get what we need in the business without going, what do actually we need in this business? So they're focused on the end piece rather than actually what's driving that need.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And the kind of cliched phrase I use is that leadership is not about creating a great place to work. It's about creating a place where great work is done. And hopefully, the two happen at the same time. We we have great work being achieved, and it's a great place to work. But its prime motive is we are here to achieve something. Now, it doesn't matter if we're a CIC, a charity, or somebody in the third sector, or a big blue chip organization, or a very small team in ah in a startup.
00:14:56
Speaker
Ultimately, we have to have that end goal and then how do you create the environment that supports that? If you have an end goal of attracting certain types of customers, you would have a very robust process around your marketing strategy and how how do you segment and target and position and so on.
00:15:13
Speaker
My question is, do we have the same thing for our people strategy?
Crafting a Tailored People Strategy
00:15:16
Speaker
Do we have that end goal of what we're trying to achieve? And then do we tailor our approaches, our environments, our internal comms, our leadership styles, et cetera, to make that strategy more likely to be successful? Or do we just pay it a little bit of proverbial lip service by creating a nice place to work? Okay. So we've got that one. What's next on our list?
00:15:40
Speaker
Again, there are so many we're incredibly complex animals, but probably where the rubber meets the road has got to be communication.
Strategic Communication in Organizations
00:15:48
Speaker
The approach to communication generally has been to tell everybody everything, you know be completely transparent and open with our communications.
00:15:58
Speaker
The challenge is that it can very quickly move towards a behaviour of almost fire and forget. No, that comm's gone out and it's up to them, whoever they may be, to understand and digest. And if they don't read the email or they don't attend the town hall, then that's kind of apportioned the responsibility elsewhere.
00:16:19
Speaker
So actually in communication, the two biggest things are what's your communication governance as in why are things being published or not published and the ability to say no.
00:16:31
Speaker
I remember working with a large blue chip client who were moving all of their IT infrastructure into the cloud. And what it basically meant was huge operating expenditure savings, simplification for the IT team, and it meant that frontline advisors could work on any computer anywhere in the world.
00:16:51
Speaker
But the actual day-to-day experience for the advisors was no different. They still came in, logged onto own computer, clicked the same icon. The UX was exactly the same, so there was nothing different.
00:17:03
Speaker
By having a governance strategy that asks a very simple question of, what do you need the audience to do or feel differently after they've engaged with the communication? Even though that is a huge project, massive savings, it had the CEO as the but project sponsor, we were able to say, no, we're not telling the front line.
00:17:23
Speaker
They don't need to do anything different. And actually, the motive behind telling the front line was actually a little bit peacocking, a little bit ego driven of, look how good our project is. There are different mechanics for that. Let's send that to a reward and recognition area, for example. But for a communication, the audience doesn't need to know anything or do anything differently, and they don't need to feel any differently. So that message doesn't go.
00:17:47
Speaker
So internal comms, the ability to say no and to have a framework or a process to say, what is the best way to land this message or not publish this message is an incredibly powerful part. so And how do you feel that if we're also talking about the slightly larger organizations, maybe let's pick on them. How are they currently trying to land messages in ways that are misfiring, mismatch?
00:18:15
Speaker
With the best of intentions as well, I have several mantras, and number two is nobody comes to work wanting to do a bad job. So when you see jobs that are creating processes that are mislanding, what is it that made that decision acceptable or feel like it was an appropriate decision is is kind of my first port of call. And I think part of the challenge, certainly in the industries that I work in, which tend to be more contact center or fintech-based, is we love ourselves a new shiny shiny.
00:18:43
Speaker
and What can i do for our business what's the latest coms platform and we're so busy looking at tech as a solution that we miss that tech is not a solution tech is an enabler. It still needs the soft squishy person to either operate it or to be a recipient of it and that piece kind of gets forgotten.
00:19:04
Speaker
tech tends to drive processes around content rather than context and we as animals love to understand what is the meaning behind the message, why am I being communicated, why does it matter rather than here's an email or here's a newsletter or here's ah here's a Yammer post or other platform post. So to kind of summarize that down, it's the we we tend to be distracted a little bit by the latest innovation in in kind of platforms and tech and space that we forget a little bit about. It's always been a people business. Every business forever has always been a people business and that's unlikely to change. So let's focus on those people.
00:19:45
Speaker
And if you think about communication, if there was a one step that all my listeners could take that would start that process really effectively, what would it be? Governments. I'm not personally a fan of structure and and process. I'm far more at my best when I'm able to flex and be adaptable and a bit more conceptual. But the bottom line is if you have a process that says, what is it you're trying to achieve?
00:20:15
Speaker
And then you almost create an environment where your communications person or people are able to say, okay, if you want to get this message to drive this call to action, then this is the best way to do it. So you create empowerment within the team to choose the medium, to choose the approach, to choose the publishing, to have autonomy over the value they add. You also create an environment where you can do less better. So you don't have all those peripheral peacocky messages, for example, that go out.
00:20:45
Speaker
that then means you can actually add value to the business rather than being part of a kind of administrative function that creates this kind of fire and forget approach unintentionally. So governance, what are you trying to achieve and having the processes to say no?
00:21:03
Speaker
Hello, it's Corinne here. Before you get stuck into the podcast, I wanted to tell you about something I've been working on recently that could help you get better results with key leaders in your team.
00:21:16
Speaker
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00:21:41
Speaker
If this sounds familiar, then my leading smarter program is for you. I run individual sessions for you both where I will create a roadmap to success. We'll look at where they are now, where they really need to be, and what's actually holding them back. And then, and I think this is where the magic happens, I bring you together and facilitate a joint session where we get really clear on what success needs to look like and how you're going to measure it.
00:22:10
Speaker
you'll both be clearer by the end. They'll be happier and more engaged, and you'll be able to put your efforts into the parts of the business that really need you, like growth planning or visiting key clients. If this sounds like something you need, I'm offering a free 30-minute discovery session where we discuss your specific situation and find out how the Leading Smarter program can help you get better results.
00:22:39
Speaker
Find me on LinkedIn, search for Corinne Hines. Also, the link will be in the show notes and I look forward to speaking to you then.
Rethinking Pay and Motivation
00:22:56
Speaker
I want to make sure we walk in the direction of pay because I feel like, and I presume that we're going to end up there, but I'm just conscious of time and I want to make sure that this is a subject because I still hear a lot of things that people believe that seem to go against all of the research that's been done around this, around pay and motivation, what its effect is. So what are people doing at the moment? What's the received wisdom about it that really kind of flies in the face of reality? So, from a psychology point of view, probably the most important piece is you cannot motivate people.
00:23:34
Speaker
All motivation is internal. What you can do is create the environment where people are more likely to be motivated. But certainly with perceived motivations like instantification and pay, you're fighting against a process in the brain called hedonic adaption. What this does is your your brain has a kind of, I'll oversimplify it, but your brain has a kind of natural level of contentment and happiness.
00:23:59
Speaker
And it's always trying to reach that balance. And it's a great process if you have trauma in your life. So if you if you lose a family member, for example, you'll have a drop in your contentment and happiness, and your brain will work hard to try and get you back to that baseline. Similarly, if you are elated, your brain will try and get you back. Because it's dangerous to be super happy all the time, because you know you might be distracted and eaten by a tiger.
00:24:25
Speaker
This is called hedonic adaption. You will have experienced this yourself. If you think back to when you bought your first car or any car, the first day you have it, you probably drove 80, 100 miles showing it off to a friend and it's a new shiny, shiny. A week later, it's just a thing.
00:24:44
Speaker
With pay, we have the same thing. When you get a new job or you get your pay rise, you get, ooh, I've got a pay rise or I've got a bonus. But a week later, no one is cartwheeling away from the ATM. No one is celebrating on payday. It just becomes a, it's a thing, it's a hygiene factor. If you don't pay, if you're late to running your payroll, then it is a huge demotivator, but actually pay as itself is not a motivating factor.
00:25:10
Speaker
as organisations and businesses, if we have that limiting belief that people are only motivated by monetary reward. then we're inadvertently missing out on all of the things that really motivate people, things around certainty and how much control do I have over my life, my status within the tribe and and how do I feel a kind of elevated importance, whether it's through my knowledge or my position, the level of fairness and equity, how I relate to others. These things are far more motivational in a social animal like ourselves,
00:25:43
Speaker
than just giving somebody a shiny shiny even if that shiny shiny has got a pound sign in front of it. I love that that model you've given and I love the fact you've talked about when you're really down that it's trying to pull you back up as well and really up is pulling you back down so we we're trying to get to this place where we're functioning at our best.
00:26:04
Speaker
So what are the kinds of things people do, given that they don't realize this piece of wisdom that you've just shared, what are classic things that you see are happening around pay that is not really effective? There are quite a few, but they all come back to the limiting belief that money is a motivator and it's not money as a tool.
00:26:29
Speaker
And you can see this, if you if you consider something like equity and and fairness or perceived fairness of an individual, if you have two people doing the same job, the same hours, and one of them is earning a few pounds more or a few pence an hour more, that can be incredibly demotivating for a party if their motivation is rooted in their perceived fairness.
00:26:51
Speaker
How many processes and policies do we have in our organizations that unintentionally create conflicts around things like our perceived fairness or take away our our certainty or our status? ah Tapping somebody on the shoulder and saying, can i I've got some feedback, can we have a chat? What happens in their head is a threat response of, am I going to be ostracized from the tribe? Is my level within the tribe going to be compromised because of my perceived competency?
00:27:20
Speaker
So it's instead of saying, can I have feedback? You might be modified to say, you know, I'd like some advice. Can we get together and maybe pick each other's brains on some things that have that have happened? So therefore, you're now almost elevating the status of the person that you're going to give feedback to because you're asking for feedback yourself as part of that process.
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, God's such an important tool that, or not tool, it's human. It's like, it's such a small thing that is so easily done, which is so often missed. And feedback becomes this swear word, but actually seeking out suggestions and advice and asking for them and then, in you know, that's just such a nice different place to to be that power dynamic.
00:28:07
Speaker
And as as leaders, it's understanding that we only really have two neurological responses.
Leadership Actions and Neurological Responses
00:28:14
Speaker
They're either ah approach responses or avoid responses, so reward or threat.
00:28:18
Speaker
What are we inadvertently triggering in individuals, our peers, our leaders, and our direct reports? Do we give any thought prior to doing those? If we offer to help somebody, have we done it in a way that makes them feel diminished? If we're giving people pay rises or or we're stopping pay rises, does that create a threat response of, is my job safe?
00:28:42
Speaker
and reduce the certainty in the in the conversation. So being cognizant of the shadow that we cast, as John Ameche says, as leaders, because it can be big and dark, we don't realize the weight that we always carry when we're having conversations, when we're showing actions, or even inactions, we're still communicating something. So being more cognizant, and it comes back to that first point of self-awareness, what are the shadows we cast in? What are our kind of Achilles heels? And when are we at our best?
00:29:12
Speaker
Lovely. Have we got time for one more? We can do it. Whether I can answer it succinctly is ah is a different question. Well, one more area that you think we've got communication, we've got pay, we've got focus on fun. Is there another one that jumps out that's worth us exploring?
Purpose-Driven Leadership and Culture
00:29:30
Speaker
So I believe that leaders don't lead people, leaders lead environments. And if I use a metaphor, if you think of a gardener, gardeners don't grow fruit.
00:29:42
Speaker
Gardeners create the environment where the plant can do what it does best. And they tend to the environment so in incredibly mundane ways. Not too much water, but enough. Not too much air, not too much mulch. It's the day-to-day, quite boring, mundane things that actually make the difference over time so the plant can do what it does best. and If we take that viewpoint as leaders that our job is not to helm the ship and help people get where we're going, but instead create the environment where people want to contribute their best aspects at the right time and context, because we're not all great at everything all the time, then I think our perception of what leaders do and how we contribute would change massively. So leaders don't lead people, leaders lead environments.
00:30:35
Speaker
So if someone's listening to this in our in our last last moments of this episode and they're thinking, great, loving that, totally makes sense, what can they do that would make a difference? What would be their first kind of steps in that direction? So like a gardener, step back and imagine what you want that garden to be first.
00:31:00
Speaker
There are lots of different types of garden. My next door neighbor has a concrete garden for his wheelie bins. I don't have any children, so my garden has veg plots and nice flowers. The way that my neighbor would tend to his garden is very different to the way that I tend to mine. And you know my brother who has children, he has to have astroturf, the plastic grass down because the kids playing football on it would churn it up as well. So to complete the metaphor, what type of garden are you trying to achieve?
00:31:29
Speaker
then How do you nurture that garden, nurture the environment, create the culture so that the right plants can do the right things at the right time? It's not often that organizations spend a huge amount of time on that kind of forward thinking, what are we here to achieve? What difference do we want to make in the world? What's our vision? What's our direction? What's that that cliche North Star that we're heading towards? Because we're too busy going, we've got to dig. We've got to weed. We've got to turn the grass over. got whereas no If your garden is to keep your wheelie bins on, what was the point in
00:32:02
Speaker
turning the grass over. So start with purpose. Where are you going? What are you heading? And treat it like the strategic tool that culture is. And the fruit will come. Thank you, Danny. That was really insightful. Lots of interesting ideas to challenge some of our perceptions and ideas to how to get started. Where can people find you, Danny?
00:32:26
Speaker
So they can find me, I'm very active on LinkedIn, as I think everybody seems to be at the moment, but they can also find me at dannywareham.com, or my consultancy is feargun.co.uk, F-I-R-G-U-N. I practiced saying feargun and then didn't get the opportunity to say it and impress you. So I'm going to like say it again. So feargun. Feargun, yes. Feargun. And what does feargun mean? I know what it means as well, but come on, tell us what it means, Danny. so As a psychologist, most of what we do if you study personality is around language. And I'm intrigued by words in other languages that don't have a direct translation into English, because it implies that people that think in other languages will think slightly differently. And Feergan is a Hebrew word that doesn't have a translation to English, but it broadly it means to take sincere delight and joy in somebody else's accomplishments or experiences.
00:33:21
Speaker
And it's that warm oxytocin hit that you get when you see a nice deed done and you get that, oh. And I believe that the world would be a much, much better place if we were more aware of it and we had more figuring in our life. And for me personally, it's my prime motivator. I love cheerleading other people and watching, you know, a rising tide raise all boats. What a lovely place to finish. Thank you very much, Danny. I really enjoyed that.
00:33:48
Speaker
This has been a ah pleasure, not quite the inquisition I was expecting either. So thank you very much for holding my hands through the process, I'd love to hear what you think, so please leave me a