Who am I is the age long question… and will remain a part of your personality throughout the ebbs and flows of your life.
Who am I? Why am I here? What is my life for?
These questions are part of a life long developmental loop that circles our experience… fueling our innate need to develop and grow.
Existential crisis are seldom discussed but are actually quite powerful at directing the experience and behavior of your staff. Existentialism is a philosophical/psychological set of theories where fundamentally our existence is a struggle of self-perception… Man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world - and defines himself afterwards. In order for us to “distinguish self” within our own minds, we must first have an experience that gives us a mental construct of self. This is a life long process and why building a corporate culture can be so dramatic in creating a behavior change in your labor force.
Culture is the “container” or mental construct upon which we build our perception of self, our sense of identity. To glimpse inside how our identity is influenced, let’s look at the teams (sub-cultures) in our lives that direct our beliefs and values and ultimately our identity.
WHAT ARE THE TEAMS OF YOUR LIFE?
Advanced marketing techniques, are designed to not only create an identity for the company, but to use very powerful hypnotic, subliminal and persuasive techniques that inspire others to adopt your company’s identity as part of their own. “I’m a pepper, he’s a pepper, she’s a pepper… wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too. Be a pepper, drink Dr. pepper”
Logo Tee Shirts and Hats that people wear illustrate a sociological playground where millions shout their individuality by communicating their identity; Nike, Harley Davidson, Coke, Miller Beer. Ritual Builders, etc.
People communicate their identity in this way because they are constantly searching to further define who they are… inside. You or I or some dude down the street has an experience with some type of organization (team) and says inside their mind… this is me. They then take this persona out into the world and look for the reactions of others to either further integrate this identity or to slip out of it like a snake does its old skin.
Identity Rituals are a simple yet extremely powerful way for you to take advantage of this social phenomenon. Your current labor force is starved for constructs that will help them develop their identity and if they are not finding it in your team… they are searching for it else where.
With Identity Rituals, you can easily provide your labor force with a sense of who you are and how you give them a sense of identity by being “included in your culture”.
Examples of Identity Rituals
· Any verbal variation of your company/department name said in unison; “sales rocks”, “nike”
· Any shared movement, song, chant, or affirmation said or executed in unison
In working with organizations, I find the most meaningful and beneficial Identity Rituals occur when one doesn’t explain in-depth what you want a group to do. People naturally want to create a sense of identity within moments of forming a group. Simply asking your Executive Team to create an Identity Ritual with their individual department will result in instant corporate change. Not only are Identity Rituals useful, they are fun and infuse real energy throughout your organization. This is a topic worthy of this entire blog website so realize that building rituals requires significant design work in advance.
Like anything with real power, there is also the possibility of self-distruction. Identity Rituals require street cred w/ your staff, or you could very easily be seen as "off your rocker". Identity Rituals must be authentic, not contrived or they will simply not be adopted by anyone as the identity level of personality. But hey... if TV and radio commercials can do... so can you!
