Have you ever considered changing corporate culture in and through meetings? It may be an easy starting point after doing the OCAI culture survey. Every place where people get together, interventions are visible and will thus influence group dynamics and behaviors. Your OCAI culture profile may help you see what to change.

Clients that use the OCAI to assess their current and preferred culture often do this to change or improve their culture. The first question after completing the survey and seeing the culture profiles is: What are the next steps? That’s a valid question. You can outline a rough process of working with the results. But you cannot prescribe exact steps and results. That is hard to accept for many organizations. We’ve become accustomed to planning and control: we’d like to know when the culture will be changed, what the results will be, and how much budget and sessions that will take.

A few recent experiences with large corporations made me think about power. I had to comply and adjust to one organization’s procedures - or they weren’t allowed to hire me. In another case, my contact insisted on a late-night Skype meeting even though it was very inconvenient for my schedule, and I had repeatedly told them I couldn’t make it. In all cases, my contacts were a bit indignant that I did not comply. Even though I tend to be flexible, I also have to manage my time and energy to deliver good work.

Positive Leadership, based on positive psychology, makes a tremendous difference in any workplace no matter how hierarchical its structure may be, or how plain the tasks at hand.

Because you can't reinvent your organization overnight to become one of those self-organizing, vibrant, fulfilling and energizing workplaces doesn't mean you are powerless!

You can always apply positive leadership.