Fix the Culture, Not the People: Lessons from the Dean of Dumbassery

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Welcome back to the show. I'm here, Stephen, with my co-hosts, Mike and Tullio once again. A Gallup study showed that highly engaged teams deliver 21% greater profitability, yet only one out of five employees worldwide are engaged. So we've kind of got a problem here and a surprising one too, considering it's profitable to be more engaged. So most engagement issues stem from cultural breakdowns, not individual performance flaws. And today's episode is all about shifting focus from fixing people to intentionally shaping the culture that supports them. Mike, introduce our guest today.

**Mike Liwski** (1:03)
Oh, and Steve, I am truly delighted to introduce our guest, Garry Ridge. He is the Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company, as well as the founder of The Learning Moment. So known worldwide, Garry, really, for his people-centered leadership philosophy.
We know Garry led WD-40 through decades of record growth. More importantly, though, while fostering what he famously calls a tribal culture, which we'll discuss a bit here today. Now, in terms of like, in this culture, this is one where people feel safe. It's important they feel valued and inspired, really, to be able to do their best work. Which we know is key in the success of a business. And then, from his practical approach to creating a culture of belonging, to even his candid lessons in what he calls dumbassery. So Garry brings unmatched wisdom to the conversation about building workplaces that really thrive. We can't wait to hear from him, I'm sure. Garry, welcome to the show.

**Garry Ridge** (2:17)
Hey, g'day, it's good to be with you. Thanks for inviting me along. And I'm proud to be the Dean of Dumbassery.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:24)
We'll get into that for sure. Hey, Garry, so you've long said that most companies spend too much time trying to fix people rather than creating environments where people can flourish. Was there a moment that crystallized this belief for you?

**Garry Ridge** (2:39)
Well, yeah, I think that even the research that you just shared, most organizations spend a lot of time on putting great strategies together, and that's very, very, very important. But the key is great execution is the will of the people time strategy. And, you know, I'm gobsmacked when I look at this research and I talk to leaders who really don't understand that you can have the best strategy in the world, but if only 30% of your people go to work every day, passionately executing against that strategy, 30 times something is something. But if 80% of your people go to work every day, and they are passionately executing against the strategy, 80 times something is much, much more. So to me, it was kind of like an or-der moment. We can have a great strategy, but what about how do we put a culture together where people go to work every day, they make a contribution to something bigger than themselves, they learn something new, they're protected and set free by a compelling set of values and go home happy. And that last bit is really important to Stephen because happy people build happy families, happy families build happy communities, and happy communities build a happy world. And by golly, we need a happier world. And business not only has an opportunity, but I think they have a responsibility to play their part in building a happier world.

**Stephen Sakach** (4:12)
Amen to all of that.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:13)
Hear it, hear it.

**Tullio Siragusa** (4:14)
Yeah.

**Mike Liwski** (4:15)
Definitely, hear it, hear it. And a lot of that really stemming from the Conscious Capital Movement, which we hope certainly more organizations are starting to hinge on to. So, Garry, maybe talk to us a little bit about building that tribal culture. It's been described of one where connection and trust are really the norm within that culture. So, talk to us maybe a little bit about building a tribal culture and maybe even what some of the key decisions or strategies have been that you've used to build that sense of unity.

**Garry Ridge** (4:53)
Sure. I think or I know there are probably five foundations to building a positive and effective tribal culture. Number one, belonging.
Do I feel and am I treated like I belong in my organization? The second pillar or foundation is, do I feel and am I treated like the work I do matters and actually makes a difference in what I do? Then choice, am I empowered to make choices because there are a set of values in the organization that not only protect me, but set me free? Then number four is safety or what was common called psychological safety. Is fear of failure being replaced by learning? In other words, we don't make mistakes, we have learning moments. Then finally, and very importantly, are we ensuring we're not managing people, we're actually coaching people? Our job as leaders is not to manage people, it's to coach people into the best version of their personal self. There are the five foundations that are simple, they're not easy and time is not your friend because culture equals values plus behavior times consistency.