Newsletter: Does company culture matter?

How’s things? I hope you’re having a fun week 😃

Another milestone… yesterday was three years since I launched my book Solve Problems That Matter: Design, Build & Launch Your Social Enterprise Idea. Get 50% off the pdf format… this week only to celebrate. (Offer valid until 20 October 2024)

Thanks to all of the awesome people who invite me in and trust me to work alongside you and cheer you on.

Company Culture

So… does company culture matter?

This was one of the key themes at this year’s Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Essential Director Update. Another great event that largely continued last year’s key themes.

Christine Holman and Bruce Cowley gave keynote talks. Christine focused on the key themes of genAI, cybersecurity, and mandatory climate reporting. Bruce spoke about company culture – including psychosocial risks and NFP financial resilience. He also touched on the session’s other key themes in the context of NFP organisations.

Christine and Bruce then joined a panel led by Louise Petschler with Peeyush Gupta.

Where are we at?

There was consensus on the reality of what’s happening and the opportunities and risks these themes bring. It can’t be questioned that talent, customers, investors – and increasingly regulators expect more from companies and leaders than they have in the past.

Financial performance (and resilience) is still front and centre – but not at the expense of how we treat and interact with nature, our home planet, and people. The people and teams who create value for our companies, the customers who buy and use our solutions, and the communities we all live, work, and play in.

Not just shareholders.

Companies need a social license to operate. They also need to manage climate, people, and other non-financial risks. These dimensions play a huge role in financial performance now.

These changed and increased expectations of how we treat people and planet are now core business – they materially show up on the P&L and balance sheet. In the past some of this has been viewed as “giving back” (what did you take?) and is often full of implicit and explicit power dynamics with the company at the centre and in control.

CSR and sustainability leaders were given near sole responsibility (often with little to no budget or decision-making), and the intent has usually been pretty transparent when the reporting line is to marketing or PR.

The shift is happening where it’s being recognised that these expectations aren’t something that can be treated as fringe. They need to be embedded in strategy and core business with the CEO, CFO, COO, and ultimately the board being accountable.

The only real decision is how to respond to these expectations (and legal requirements). As a compliance burden… or as an opportunity to innovate, do better business, and rapidly transition to more regenerative ways of living and doing business.

What happens next?

That’s really up to us as leaders, customers, and investors.

Check out my full blog post for more on the key themes including links to useful resources.

Everything I do is focussed on helping accelerate the transition to more regenerative ways of living and doing business. Business models, products, and services that create great outcomes for people and our planet, make money, and increase wellbeing.

Let’s collaborate to solve problems that matter – problems that matter for our teams, customers, investors, regulators, and life on our planet.

What trends are you observing and where do you see them heading?

This is one of the questions I ask in the leadership research I’m doing. I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Get involved!

I’m curious to learn more about how you’re adapting to meet the rapidly increasing expectations of your teams, customers, investors, and regulators. I’ll present the findings from my research in a report. It might even evolve into my next book.

Join the waitlist for the report now to be the first to get it. When you join the waitlist, you’re also invited to complete the survey that takes ~5 minutes, and you can express interest in being interviewed.

There’s been a great response… a huge thanks to the 90+ people who’ve already shared their experience and insights. I’m doing more interviews at the moment too. More soon…

Ideas

A blog post and an event for you…

Reflecting on SydDT #104: Inclusive Design with Manisha Amin, Shaheen & Mariane Power

Last week we were lucky to have Manisha Amin, Shaheen, and Mariane Power leading an engaging conversation on inclusive design at SydDT #104. They each brought so much experience and shared so many great insights.

Manisha talked about what inclusive design is – and isn’t – and why it’s important, Shaheen drilled down on power dynamics and the diversity experience, and Mariane talked about inclusion in action – with a focus on neurodiversity and neuro inclusion. After the three talks, I hosted a panel where they dug into things even more.

The night was full of powerful insights and reframes starting at the strategic level and getting practical with simple mental models and frameworks we can all use to mature our inclusive design practices. Rather than me trying to synthesise my highlights, I recommend watching the video and hearing it directly. It’s all gold.

SydDT #106/Design Connection #3: State of the Design Nation with Ben Crothers & Nila Rezaei

For our 6 November Sydney Design Thinking meetup, we’re lucky to have Ben Crothers and Nila Rezaei sharing their reflections as a couple of the judges for the 2024 Good Design Awards. Since 2018, this has become an annual SydDT tradition and a time to reflect on the state of the design nation… full of interesting observations, insights, and trends.

This event is brought to you by Macquarie Group, Sh8peshifters, and Dynamic4. Grab your ticket before it sells out. New members are welcome!

If you miss out you can always watch the recording. We’ve got a bunch on Youtube…

Let’s Collaborate

At Dynamic4, we specialise in coaching, training, and working alongside leaders to solve problems that matter. With 30+ years in financial services, this is one of my happy places.

A key way we do this is by designing and delivering action learning experiences with masterclasses, workshops, innovation sprints, and leadership, design thinking & innovation programs.

We bring together design thinking, regenerative innovation, wellbeing, and purpose into an integrated practice.

These sessions build personal, team, and organisational capability to lead with confidence, clarity, and purpose:

🌿 Confidence to navigate complexity and solve problems that matter for your teams, customers, shareholders – and build momentum with more certainty and less risk while increasing your wellbeing

❤️ Clarity to empathically engage your stakeholders, make better decisions, and collaborate to create solutions that your teams and customers love, make money, and do great things for people and our planet

🎯 Purpose that drives progress on your goals and creates meaningful value that you’re proud of for all stakeholders – and build the relationships, workflows, rhythms, and habits for success

Keen to chat about how we can have fun collaborating to solve problems that matter? Book a free 15-minute discovery call.

Have fun!

Ben