When the latest change knocks at our doors, we tend to dive deep into our reservoir of prior experience and accumulated insights for guidance on how to navigate. It’s during these moments that an organization’s culture – whether a corporation, a co-operative or a farming operation itself – comes into play as we determine how to best adapt to the latest twists and turns.
For many of us, our culture represents an indispensable foundation of values that have helped us thrive for years, decades or even generations. As valuable as this foundation is, perhaps there are times when elements of our culture – specifically the behaviors that have become traditions and the way we think about them – are due for a change.
I think about workplace culture a lot as CEO of Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) – a 113-year-old dairy co-op with an incredible legacy and a recent record of market-leading growth. Whenever I talk with one of our farmer-owners, they often remind me, “Patrick, we’ve been here for 100 years, and we’ll be here for 100 more.”
So, how do we honor our past and hone our future at the same time?
At TCCA, we respect the strength of our historical values and the wisdom that comes along with it. Yet, we are also passionate about embracing new perspectives and making room for new voices. We know this dynamic is crucial in helping our business thrive while also helping keep employees engaged, motivated and energized as part of our team. Over the years, in interacting with TCCA’s farmer-owners, I’ve come to believe culture is as important on the farm as it is in the boardroom. Here’s why …
Building a better boat
The dairy farmers who were early settlers in Tillamook County found theirs to be a tenuous, punishing business in a raw and unforgiving place. Many simply left defeated. Others persisted against one of the most intractable challenges: getting their product to market over harsh terrain. Eventually, someone came up with the idea to build a boat sturdy enough to carry their butter and other products through churning weather and waters to the markets in Portland and beyond. They named it the Morning Star, and it was a turning point – an economic necessity whose own strength and resilience became a metaphor for that of the settlers who remained and, 50 years later, for the co-op they became.
I think about the commitment and character it took those pioneers to risk everything to “build a better boat.” The resiliency and grit of our cooperative’s founding dairy farmers inspires our organization to this day. But, I wonder, what was – or is – the role of culture in “building a better boat?” And what is the role of the leader in that culture?
I believe it is not the role of the leader to preserve culture at all costs. To preserve is to petrify. And that’s contrary to innovation and growth. To me, the coolest part of the Morning Star story isn’t that our predecessors decided to build a better boat. It’s that they allowed room for the kind of people who would suggest it.
Fluid vs. fixed culture
That’s the kind of culture we want for TCCA, so we are equipped to get wherever we want to go, no matter the weather. I call it fluid culture, as opposed to fixed culture. Fixed culture asks, “Does this idea or person fit into what we’ve been?” Fluid culture asks, “Does this idea or person add to what we want to be?” Fluid culture recognizes that excellence comes from amplifying the good, not constraining the different.
I’ve seen this come into play often when the next generation is poised to join the family dairy operation, bringing along new ideas and perspectives. Will these ideas be met with the fixed-culture mentality of “Well, that’s not the way we’ve always done it.” Or, conversely, will the door open to the virtues of fluid culture that may include calculated risks, meaningful change and, yes, even mistakes – that are quite possibly worth making. The constant innovations and continual improvements launched by our farmers into their operations throughout our cooperative’s history convince me this is the way to go.
Fluid culture seeks to expand the potential of people and of the organization itself. Doing that can be especially hard for older organizations because time has a way of encasing habits in amber. When your organization is new, everything is new. But when your organization or farm is more than 100 years old and has been especially successful, you have to think carefully about balancing legacy and change.
Inspiration, not prescription
Our legacy is gold, an endless source of lessons in diligence. But it’s not a Magic 8 Ball, delivering answers on command. What fixed culture gets right is respect for legacy and a grounding in foundational values. What it gets wrong is strict devotion to the past. You have to understand the values at work in your past, not just the actions.
So, if the role of the leader is not to preserve culture, what is it? It is to cultivate the environment. And that means acting with intention to build on your farm’s historical strengths while clearing room for new strengths you have yet to imagine. Fluid culture doesn’t mean leaving everything behind, but it does mean consciously choosing what stays, what goes, what changes a little and what changes a lot. It means hanging out a welcome sign to new ideas and perspectives.
Three lessons in intention
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Cultivate both core and aspirational values – A few years back, we were refreshing our values, and I put forward with great confidence the statement “We play to win.” But employees said, “It would be nice, but if this is supposed to be what’s true today, then no dice.” That stung a bit, but it reinforced that you have to have aspirations for your values like anything else. “Play to win” wasn’t wrong. It just wasn’t true yet, but we didn’t give up on it. We are better off today, having cultivated both our core values (true today) and our aspirational values (true tomorrow).
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Define expectations, not outcomes – The “control impulse” is so prevalent in leadership that when a billionaire philanthropist recently signaled a shift in giving by writing, “[it’s] important to place trust in the people and organizations we partner with and let them define success on their own terms," Inc. magazine declared, “Her 1-Sentence Reason Turns Modern Leadership Upside-Down.” I was glad to see it because the leader can’t "master plan" every outcome. Instead, the leader must set the expectation that every decision hinges on whether value is added. “Culture fit” fixes you in the past while “culture add” moves you toward the future.
- Listen and revise – Your farm’s employees, family members and non-members alike, want to be heard, but it’s not clear in most organizations that there is enough listening. A 2019 Gallup article cited its research into this specifically, which found that only 3 in 10 U.S. employees strongly agree that, at work, their opinions seem to count. You have to make opportunities to hear what your employees think (even if it stings). But then you have to act, and at every level. Production practices can calcify quickly, particularly as new research, technologies and key learnings have the potential to move our industry forward. Look for past decisions that now restrict innovation, or leave people out, or are based on assumptions subsequently proved false.
'We’ve been here for 100 years, and we’ll be here for 100 more.'
Fluid culture has been the key to our last 100 years, and it will be key to our next 100 years at TCCA. Drawing on the strength of our past while embracing ambiguity has been good for our business. It has led to more expansive ideas, which have led to growth and innovation. Being fluid has been good for our people, who report a more fulfilling experience and respectful environment. And just as important, our fluid culture is good for the communities in which we make our awesome cheese, precisely because it makes room for everything awesome – in ideas and in people.
The time may be right to consider what a fluid culture means for the success and progress of your farm today and for your operation’s next 100 years.
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