ld culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the

I worked for a respected pharmaceutical sales and marketing organization during years of rapid growth and expansion. The "driving rule" of behavior for this company was to "compete" and "perform" better than everyone else. This focus on competition drove the entire organization to excellence as they used this strength to influence hospitals, governments and insurers to use their products and drove improvement within the organization. Top performers were rewarded with many rewards and recognitions. Those who didn't perform were replaced with those who would. This culture helped attract and develop people who were competitive and driven for success.

However, the industry began to change. Cost constraints pressured private and public health providers to decrease costs, forcing change in the pharmaceutical business. Teamwork, collaboration and partnerships with government, health insurers, and physician groups became more important.

As a result, senior management introduced a new set of values that included values such as, alignment, teamwork, collaboration, community, and respect for people. However, the organization continued only to recognize and promote based only on performance and competition. While HR distributed films, books and posters explaining the new values, most managers felt, as one once told me, that the definition of "respect for people" meant that "if employees don't "perform", we will "respectfully" fire them".

The old paradigm that brought prior success had changed, but the company was unable to change the internal culture to match the external drivers. Soon the company was unable to meet goals and frustration spread. The old culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the

he organization. Top performers were rewarded with many rewards and recognitions. Those who didn't perform were replaced with those who would. This culture helped attract and develop people who were competitive and driven for success.

However, the industry began to change. Cost constraints pressured private and public health providers to decrease costs, forcing change in the pharmaceutical business. Teamwork, collaboration and partnerships with government, health insurers, and physician groups became more important.

As a result, senior management introduced a new set of values that included values such as, alignment, teamwork, collaboration, community, and respect for people. However, the organization continued only to recognize and promote based only on performance and competition. While HR distributed films, books and posters explaining the new values, most managers felt, as one once told me, that the definition of "respect for people" meant that "if employees don't "perform", we will "respectfully" fire them".

The old paradigm that brought prior success had changed, but the company was unable to change the internal culture to match the external drivers. Soon the company was unable to meet goals and frustration spread. The old culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the

collaboration and partnerships with government, health insurers, and physician groups became more important.

As a result, senior management introduced a new set of values that included values such as, alignment, teamwork, collaboration, community, and respect for people. However, the organization continued only to recognize and promote based only on performance and competition. While HR distributed films, books and posters explaining the new values, most managers felt, as one once told me, that the definition of "respect for people" meant that "if employees don't "perform", we will "respectfully" fire them".

The old paradigm that brought prior success had changed, but the company was unable to change the internal culture to match the external drivers. Soon the company was unable to meet goals and frustration spread. The old culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the

nd posters explaining the new values, most managers felt, as one once told me, that the definition of "respect for people" meant that "if employees don't "perform", we will "respectfully" fire them".

The old paradigm that brought prior success had changed, but the company was unable to change the internal culture to match the external drivers. Soon the company was unable to meet goals and frustration spread. The old culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the

ld culture became a liability to their success, but the old rewards stayed in place and no new awards for teamwork and collaboration were put in place. It has taken this organization years to adapt to the new working environment. They still struggle developing teamwork and alignment over internal competition.

This is an excellent example of a needed culture shift that leadership did not drive fast enough for the company to keep its competitive edge. Rewards and recognitions should have been changed more quickly in order to motivate a change in behaviors. Also, the hiring and firing of employees should have been oriented to the new behaviors in order to bring people into the company whose values were in alignment with the new culture. This example also shows how difficult a dramatic change in culture can be for an organization. Upper management recognized they needed to change, but were not successful in communicating the need clearly enough to the organization that behavioral change was needed for the company to continue to "compete" and "perform" in the new environment.