Phil Bowers on the Frontline

Phil Bowers, President/CEO of Professional Skills Development, sent me these comments in response to my “Culture Last, Not First” article. Phil is an expert on developing frontline managers. I think his comments are very insightful. Please let me know what you think.

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Mike, I enjoy your work and especially enjoy reading your thoughts on your blog.

Your recent comments on where “culture” fits in the change process (Culture Last, Not First Nov.1, 2006) prompted me to write to offer up a different perspective. I understand the position you hold (and that of Kotter). The idea of undertaking a wholesale change of culture first would be a daunting task.

The primary focus of my practice is the training and development of front line managers and supervisors. Their view of the organization is very different from those that may be taking a strategic level view of a change initiative.

So consider the following:

You mention that we count on embedding the successes of a change initiative into the culture of the organization, so success first, culture last. (As you put it, “Trying to create a new culture before demonstrating success simply doesn’t work anywhere (except in theory). Real people in real organizations demand “proof.” Kotter and Cohen, in their book “The Heart of Change,” say, “New behaviors will not become the norms, will not take hold, until the end of the process.”)

When we talk about a strategic change initiative, we are talking about the future. Discussing the future means we are discussing uncertainty. Uncertainty means the likelihood of mistakes goes up. (How much proof can we really have about the future?) My premise is, how well the organization is equipped to handle mistakes is key to how rapidly people will embrace change.

From an operational point of view, this means that the lower in the organization you go, it is more about “safety” and less about “proof of success” that will encourage change. (Culture first.) Why do I say this?

The results of strategic level decisions may not be seen for months or even years in some cases. The lower you go in an organization’s management structure, the more you remove this insulation. The results of decisions made by front line managers are very often visible within days or even hours. A well intended decision, based on a changing business model, which results, say with an upset customer, is rarely well received. What would motivate a manager to take such a risk? I say that only a culture of safety will support the behavior. This leads to a culture “first” scenario.

There is another option that is often used, and that is adding enough controls to this level of decisions (sign offs, permissions, approvals) to ensure success, but that is another culture all together.

As we have discussed, I believe that the front line can have a tremendous impact on the bottom line. We simply have to stay committed to their development.


Mike, thanks for your time and the dialogue. Keep up the good work.

Phil Bowers, Founder
Professional Skills Development
www.professionalskillsdevelopment.com