Take a Closer Look
The Idea
The Culture Science Cards were borne from the frustration of not being able to engage employees at all levels in fruitful discussions about their work environment. People seemed reticent to engage and while managers pointed out that this was normal, I knew that in fact people loved to engage in useful conversations. The 'penny dropped' one day when someone mentioned they didn't think the conversation I was trying to create would be that useful. "We'll all go back to work and nothing will change". "Why?" I asked. "There's no shared language or common understanding, and because you're an expert people will take your advice on what we need to do but won't know how or what to focus on."
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That was interesting to me as a colleague of mine had once said that people will listen and acknowledge the experience of an expert, but will only act on their own conclusions. Putting these two concepts together was easier than I thought as an evolving relationship with gapingvoid design group created the opportunity to approach the challenge in a unique way. What about developing a tool that could allow people to 'design' their own work culture through identifying the mindsets and behaviours they desired ad those they didn't, and allowing conversations about what the causes of both were? And thus creating ownership for what happens next in the local workplace.
The Design
The Culture Science Cards look at mindsets and behaviours that are both 'Task' oriented and 'People' oriented. They identify both effective and less effective aspects of each, but without judging them.
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We looked at those key domains of thinking and behaviour in the research literature that both enhanced and inhibited performance at the individual, team and organisational levels. We then designed cards to represent these behaviours and endeavoured to ensure that many of the cards could be interpreted in multiple ways. You see the aim of the 'game' is not to get it right, but to create conversations, and key conversations are often about meaning and impact - that's the gold of the Culture Science Cards - discussion.​
The 'Card Sort'
We ask people to 'sort' the cards to identify those behaviours they would like to experience on a regular basis in their work environments and those behaviours they would prefer not to experience. People have different life experiences leading to different expectations and beliefs. These differences often create conflict or just differences of opinion which can get in the way of day to day work. There are often just misunderstandings of how people should behave to fit in, get ahead, and stay safe in their environments. The Culture Science Cards give people the ability to challenge beliefs, and identify those behaviours that will get the most out of them - together - thus creating effective expectations of how everyone should behave as a unit. Once expectations are discussed and established, people's comfort in being the way they want is raised considerably, allowing g them to be their most effective selves.
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The beauty of the Culture Science Cards is that they can be used in so many different ways and focused on so many critical subjects. To date we have had had discussions through the cards on innovation, safety, performance, leadership, team operating principles, customer focus, change, and many more.
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The questions we have used keep growing but some typical examples are as follows:
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What mindsets should people in your team bring with them to work every day?
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How do you want people to behave because of your leadership
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What behaviours will promote a creative environment?
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In your line of work, what mindsets will ensure the safety of everyone?
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Psychological safety is the product of what behaviours by team members and leaders?
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In a major change situation, what mindsets and behaviours will allow the value of the change to be realised?
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And many more...
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The Result
The beauty of the Culture Science Cards is that there is no 'right' answer. Yes, technically there are more correct responses given the research behind each card, but inevitably the aim of the 'game' is to create conversations that put real issues on the table and allow them to be discussed openly and safely.
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Gentle facilitation can prod people to uncover new depths that some of the cards definitely have, while ensuring that the original discussion value is not lost. Having sorted the cards, the next level of conversation might be questions such as "what systems, processes or leadership approaches are encouraging the effective approaches we currently use?" but also "what current systems, processes and leadership approaches are discouraging us from being the way we want to be?" This latter conversation is successful only if a safe environment has been created through the less challenging activity of the original card sort exercise.
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For now, that's enough to fuel your imagination of how effective the Culture Science Cards can be in creating opportunities to improve your work environment - your culture. We cover a lot more in the Facilitator training sessions which we encourage people to attend to be their most effective when using the cards. You can register for facilitator training here.