The Results Pyramid
(This is a brief write-up of my thoughts on this brilliant article from the folks at Partners in Leadership: https://www.partnersinleadership.com/insights-publications/the-power-of-the-results-pyramid-achieving-sustainable-culture-change/)
You’ve heard of the Pyramids of Giza?
Well then, have you heard of The Results Pyramid?
It’s essentially a bottom-to-top approach of:
1. Experiences ➡️ 2. Beliefs ➡️ 3. Actions ➡️ 4. Results
Results-proven to solve the pain point of organisations struggling to instill a new culture into their whole system, be it a more productive, more honest, or more collaborative workforce.
Refer picture below for a screenshot of this other pyramid 😉
A paragraph in the article which I referred to (same source as picture above) illustrates this beautifully:
“Leaders often 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱. They create new action plans, new policies, new procedures, new organization structures — 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 — 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬.”
Have you noticed this not only in companies, but also back in other experiences in your life journey thus far? That student association which you were part of in university, the NGO which you volunteered in, etc.
So, what can organisations do about it?
The leaders in the organisations will have to be down-to-earth, and in this case, the very earth that the pyramid rests on. They will need to repeatedly instill this in sessions such as briefings, meetings, or when they notice an employee doing something off tangent to the company culture.
And to instill this, the art of storytelling will be required to make the explanation as simple and compelling as possible to the employee. Being human, we relate closely to stories rather than to number and facts, hence the need of storytelling (honest one of course) to pass the message across.
With the repetition in place, only then will employees start 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 the desired culture from every leader in the organisation, making it as part of their 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳, following every 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 structured in place, and finally creating that desired 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁.
A paragraph in the same source article also well encapsulates this flow from experience to result, is as follow:
“When leaders start at the bottom of The Results Pyramid and work their way up, results are achieved faster, more efficiently, and most importantly, they are sustained. That’s because leaders who tap into the hearts and minds of their employees and paint a compelling picture of success give their teams something to hold onto and to work towards. The proof is in the numbers.”
A big thanks to Ms Tee Ee Lynn (speaker for this) for the informative sharing as well as Emerging Leaders Asia for organising the talk which imparted this knowledge.
To more learning in all fields of knowledge~
Happy learning, folks~
*Disclaimer: I am just your casual personal growth / finance enthusiast looking to share his thoughts and experiences on his personal practices. I do not in any way represent any of the companies/entities mentioned in this article. I will not be held liable for any form of losses incurred on your side for using any of these companies/entities’ apps/platforms. Always exercise rationality and due diligence whenever you sign up for any app/platform usage as well!
About the author:
Cheech Sia is your one-of-a-kind engineer based in Selangor, Malaysia. He is also a super enthusiast when it comes to areas of personal development and financial education. Connect with Cheech on LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram.
