Culture is not just about pom poms and parties

We need to build a winning culture.  It’s important to have an experimentation culture.  We’re looking to build a culture of collaboration.  Culture culture culture.  

Culture is a term that is tossed around loosely these days.  In some scenarios it’s talked about more than it actually exists.  For some, this stretch of the imagination sets the stage for some doubt around the value of building “culture”.

At LiftCentro, we believe culture matters so much that we offer consulting services around how to instill culture across organizations.  We focus specifically on building cultures of experimentation.  Why?  One might naturally think that this work is to create test & learn programs.  That’s not the case.  We don’t build programs to just develop a testing capability.  That’s not a good use of time.  We do it to help businesses drive more tangible business value.  We do it to help organizations get a better return on their Marketing investments. 

What’s the difference?  The difference is that when you build experimentation cultures the right way, your experiments are going to tend to drive better results.  And this is when business value is impacted.  So building a testing regimen is part of this process. But business value is hard to realize unless all involved are reaching for the stars with their testing mentality.  

You need to create experiments that move the needle – that drive more leads.  That drive more sales.  And to identify those winning ideas to experiment with, it starts with having a spirit that is willing to push the boundaries.  

Pioneers that explored new lands hundreds of years ago didn’t just journey to the next outpost.  They went as far as one could go to see what was there.  What it looked like.  What it felt like.  

The extent to which you win with experimentation is the extent to which your larger organization is willing to test the boundaries of what is acceptable.  Is branding onboard with experimentation?  Is the design team onboard?  Is the product team willing to try some very different messaging?  

As we scan our testing road maps over the last year, we are not surprised to see that the best results come from more daring changes.  What allows an organization to test more daring changes requires a certain mindset.  This is culture.  And when we see, repeatedly, that more daring changes drive more value, we see culture translating into tangible business value.

 Break boundaries temporarily.  Break the guidelines and see what the impact is.  Then discuss whether it makes sense to update the guidelines.  If your concepts are not daring enough, experimentation will have limited returns.  It starts with a mindset. And when this mindset permeates the organization, we have a culture.  

Connect with us at LiftCentro to learn more about how to turn tests – and a testing spirit – into a winning culture of experimentation.