The influence of context and personal conscience on behaviour (III)

Behaviours are the result of personal freedom, but we are all aware of the influence that the context has on this “free” choice.

The context generates reinforcement, in the form of positive or negative rewards, depending on the behaviour performed. These reinforcements generate learning that can be positive (functional behaviour with positive reinforcement and dysfunctional behaviour with negative reinforcement) or negative (functional behaviour with negative reinforcement and dysfunctional behaviour with positive reinforcement).

The big “reinforcers” of behaviour in organisations are the economic incentive system, career paths and the dominant culture. We have brains that tend to imitate what they see (the most frequent behaviour patterns) and instinctively seek to “maximise” personal utility when working (perhaps this is why some people are so hooked on vertical careers and the achievement of goals for the bonus that comes with them).

Personal behaviour is not the result of external stimuli alone. There are also internal stimuli that can be even more important than external ones. We are talking above all about individual conscience, which allows behaviour to reflect a sense of duty based on empathy and human values. Conscience makes it possible to transcend what is called “egocracy” (the system of thinking in the service of short-term self-interest) so prevalent in society.

Conscience, when it is well educated, is a great driver of the kind of behaviour that favours personal and social progress and also the good functioning and sustainability of companies; especially when one finds oneself in difficult situations such as the months following the pandemic. Many people, as a result of their free choice, have gone out of their way during those months to help in whatever way they could, even accepting cuts in their remuneration. Conscience helps to activate ingenuity, resourcefulness and initiative in the service of the common good. It also helps to create more trust and mutual respect in the air we breath.

In short, cultural change would require action not only on the context and the other variables mentioned above, but also on people’s sense of duty. Therefore, the first approach we propose focuses on activating the inner resources of the people who will play the most relevant role in cultural change; the focus of the other two approaches is more on the context.

A healthy culture helps a company to be competitive in the marketplace. It does so through many elements of which we will highlight three:

• It favours the alignment of behaviours with long-term business objectives,
• It generates synergies and symbiosis between areas of the company, as mutual respect and trust predispose to collaboration,
• It contributes to the good functioning of the organisational structure and therefore to the good execution of the strategy.

In short, cultural change is complex, psychologically suggestive, and at the same time important from a business perspective.

The purpose of all three approaches is the same: to foster ways of thinking, feeling and acting that contribute to integration within the company and to the integration of the company with its market, which is nothing more than generating products and services that meet the present and future needs of customers.