How to Improve Safety Culture by Culture-Shaping: Recursive Culture Creation

As mentioned in the previous post, effective, sustainable, safety culture improvement is achieved via two complementary components: solution-finding and culture-shaping.  

Continuing on with culture-shaping, today here we unveil our Theory of Recursive Culture Creation – a powerful paradigm for conceptualizing culture and how to shape it with intention. 

Overview:

1.        The Theory of Recursive Culture Creation

2.        How the DELTA System shapes culture

1. The Theory of Recursive Culture Creation

My father-in-law, Alan, was a preacher for 40 years, and absolutely loves carrot cake. Sarah, a woman in his congregation, made marvelous carrot cake; it was always the first to disappear from the church potluck table.

When the church decided to put together a cookbook of their members’ recipes, Alan specifically requested Sarah include her carrot cake recipe. She explained that she had learned how to make it from her mother and had never used a written recipe but would be happy to write it down and share it.

The next Sunday, Sarah provided my Alan with the following recipe card: 

Interesting note at the bottom of the recipe card…

Alan noted the last line and was intrigued. He asked Sarah about the purpose of the brick, and she said that it was something her mother (also an excellent baker) had always done. Although she wasn’t sure of the exact chemistry, the brick probably had something to do with moisture retention. “I’ll ask her the specifics next time I see her and let you know,” she said.

The following Sunday, Sarah marched over to Alan to report that she had spoken to her mother, who had bewilderedly informed her that their old oven had a bent rack. Placing a brick on the rack leveled it so the cake would bake evenly.

Sarah told my father-in-law that she had been putting bricks into her oven since she moved out at 18 years old. She thought a brick was a critical piece of baking equipment and she had even taught her daughter the “brick trick.”

The Theory of Recursive Culture Creation in action via the legendary “brick trick.”

I have always loved this story. I think it can teach us a lot about the way culture is created from the interplay of beliefs and behavior.

We start with a behavior.

Sarah’s mother put a brick in the oven, which created the belief in Sarah that the brick was important to cake baking. This belief was inaccurate, but that had no bearing on Sarah’s behavior of putting a brick in her own oven and teaching her daughter to do the same, which became a belief of Sarah’s daughter, and so on and so forth.

By the time Sarah’s daughter is putting a brick in her oven when she bakes a cake, the brick has become a part of the family culture. If it weren’t for the church recipe book, the brick trick could have persisted for eons. This is culture-creation in action.

1. Culture consists of shared beliefs and behaviors.

2. Beliefs and behaviors influence and shape each other.

3. Culture continuously molds beliefs and behaviors.

There is a dynamic, recursive relationship between culture, beliefs, and behaviors over time, where each iteration of culture references its former self. Initial beliefs and behaviors are reinforced as they evolve.1

The Theory of Recursive Culture Creation.

Recursive culture creation can be leveraged for culture-shaping.

When employees believe the company culture is improving, they begin acting as if it is improving. As these beliefs and behaviors become widespread, they create an improved culture, which reinforces the belief that the organization is improving.

This self-reinforcing mechanism is what makes recursive culture-creation such a powerful tool for transformation. Over time, as the culture strengthens and evolves, organizations that successfully harness this power can integrate new mindsets and corresponding behaviors deep into their culture.2

2. How the DELTA System Shapes Culture

The father of criminology, Cesare Beccaria, wrote in his book On Crimes and Punishment that for punishment to serve as a deterrent, it must be certain, swift, and proportional to the offense. The certainty and immediacy of punishment are crucial in shaping behavior, signaling to society that negative actions have real and immediate consequences.3

Just as certainty, immediacy, and proportional punishment deter undesirable behaviors, certain, immediate, and proportional rewards encourage desirable behaviors.

Culture-Shaping Principle: Rewards for desirable behavior should be as certain, immediate, and impactful as possible.

For example, when employees participate in the DELTA Workshop, they exhibit desirable behavior: pro-social engagement, contributing ideas, and embracing new solutions. We need to look for opportunities to support that desirable behavior.

• We should be quick to praise participants.

• We should be trustworthy by working diligently to make sure the steps outside of the workshop are completed.

• We should act swiftly on the projects that participants identify.

Any opportunity for positive reinforcement should be seized immediately; this is how we build trust and certainty. Through this, we send a send a clear message: Keep up the good work.

There are many other opportunities for culture-shaping throughout the DELTA System.

Here are some of them.

Engaging and Reshaping Perspectives

Instead of trying to control employees’ perceptions and attitudes, the DELTA Workshop meets them where they are. Through the lens of curiosity, we explore and test preconceived ideas.

Perspectives evolve naturally under conditions of transparent communication and collaborative solution-finding.

The goal isn’t to make employees change their opinions, but to begin thinking holistically, adopting a more constructive and open mindset toward organizational realities.

Positive Behavioral Disruption

Kurt Lewin’s model of behavior change (Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze) is foundational in understanding how disruptions to behavior can lead to lasting changes in mindset. His theory suggests that disrupting the status quo (unfreezing behavior) can prompt people to question their assumptions and adopt new ways of thinking.4

The process of the DELTA Workshop disrupts employees’ usual behaviors in a positive way. Participants find themselves in discussions with colleagues from different departments, breaking down silos and fostering a broader understanding of the organization.

They are encouraged to voice their ideas freely and to engage with new concepts actively. Any tendencies toward pessimism or negativity are gently discouraged, replaced by a constructive approach to challenges.

This behavioral shift isn’t confined to the workshop; it radiates throughout the organization. Senior leadership demonstrates their belief in their employees’ judgment and commits to following through with actions, while other employees become curious and hopeful about the potential improvements.

Broad Buy-In

The DELTA System facilitates buy-in from all levels of the organization. The pre-workshop planning section guides you on how to speak to each level of the organization and how to identify when you’ve achieved buy-in.

Buy-in is crucial to shaping organizational culture because it indicates belief. When employees genuinely support a vision, their actions align with organizational objectives, reinforcing desired behaviors and fostering collaboration.

Buy-in also promotes accountability as individuals take ownership of their roles in upholding the culture. This shared responsibility creates a cycle where positive behaviors influence others positively, making improvement sustainable.5

Expectation Setting

At the beginning of almost every step of the DELTA Manual is an opportunity to set expectations about what’s required for success and what’s possible to achieve.

Whether it’s setting rules of engagement for workshop participants, explaining thematic analysis to your facilitation team, or informing the leadership that upon completion of the DELTA System they will be expected to provide resources to support the projects identified, we use expectation-setting to influence behavior and direct thinking toward helpful beliefs.

When success is an expectation, it motivates individuals to align their efforts with organizational goals.6

Connecting the Dots

There are countless places throughout the DELTA System that offer the opportunity to engage in culture-shaping.

In the Delta Manual book, we marked them with a delta symbol that looks like this: 

The icon in The Delta Manual that indicates an opportunity for Culture-Shaping.

This symbol is intended to serve as a reminder not to forget about culture-shaping as you work your way through the system and become engaged in the exciting process of solution-finding.

As Peter Drucker, social ecologist and the “father of modern management” wrote, “Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.” 7

Amen, Pete!

Try not to get too caught up in solving problems now to grasp your opportunity to shape the culture and improve things for years to come.

With that being said, let’s move on to talk about solutions.

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References

1. Linda Smircich, “Concepts of Culture and Organizational Analysis,” Administrative Science Quarterly 28, no. 3 (1983): 339—58, https://doi.org/10.2307/2392246.

2. Edgar H. Schein, “The Role of the Founder in Creating Organizational Culture,” Organizational Dynamics 12, no. 1 (1983): 13—28, https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(83)90023-2.

3. Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments, trans. David Young (Hackett Publishing Company, 1986; originally published 1764).

4. Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers (Harper, 1951).

5. John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen, The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations (Harvard Business Review Press, 2002).

6. Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006).

7. Peter F. Drucker, Managing for Results: Economic Tasks and Risk-Taking Decisions (Harper & Row, 1964).