For organisations, culture is defined by Merriam-Webster as the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterises an institution or organisation. Culture is something set in any group by the people in it, whether intended or not. For a lot of us, starting a new job or contract, or walking into a new environment means walking into a place where the culture is already defined, both in the Monday-to-Friday workplace and in the charitable.
So, what is Counterculture? Our old friend Merriam-Webster defines counterculture as the values and norms that run counter to those of established society. Counterculture has been a powerful force throughout history and can be a powerful tool today in ways both big and small.
Today, value-for-money and a process-driven vision is at the heart of culture for many businesses and organisations. While these things are in fact important, counterculture must aim to uproot and demonstrate they are not the be-all and end-all. At the end of the day, the work we do ultimately is aimed at the betterment of people’s lives, whether directly or in the periphery, and that the processes and products we make are a part of the greater purpose of serving people.
Contagious counterculture is about spreading values and norms that run in against the flow to what is defined in the place or setting we find ourselves in. We do this through action, and living out the values and from the vision we are given, putting people back as the focus, never hesitant to be a disruption to the status quo.
At GRS, we strive to make our values not just our values, our mission not just our mission. Integrity, Courage, Excellence, Tenacity, Respect, Authenticity, Candour, Contentment. These are the things we want to see in every workplace. When we discuss contagious counterculture, we talk about ‘infecting’ the organisations and settings we are sent to, collaborate with and can make our daily 9 to 5 home in. We positively ‘infect’ (no pun intended) workplaces with our values and our mission; to be a Profit for Purpose, Profit for People, People for Planet, Problem Solving Company.
Never hesitate to be a disruption to the status quo.
Dates are valuable reminders. Markers of beginnings and endings, tracking the passage of time. They provide checks and balances… how much of yesterday’s dream stands actualized today.
True both for a business and our individual lives, we mustn’t stop recounting the ways in which we have transformed. Every business begins with a story; a story that can celebrate the milestones, learn from the losses and recount the change, the impact and the achievement.
23 February 2019 is our date. It was on this day that Tentmakers Pty Ltd trading as Greenroom Strategic (GRS) was incorporated, making us 4 years old today. We’ve come some way from what started as an idea in a meeting room in an industrial space in Fyshwick ACT, to a collective of experts and world changers doing their thing in Defence, Industry, Non-Profit and the private sector.
But how do we measure success? I’m sure, hidden in the dark recesses of the subconscious mind of our founders, are the standard measures ($$, ‘partners’, bums on seats et al.) but, thankfully, they also look beyond the numbers to quantify success in some other really important areas.
Hang around with us long enough, and you’ll start to hear a common language amongst our Team, as we discuss things like GRS values; an agreed list of descriptors that we have adopted into our culture, as the foundation upon which we build and grow:
Integrity
Courage
Tenacity
Excellence
Respect
Authenticity
Candour
Contentment
We strategise the passage of making these values become our virtues and how we integrate this into not only our professional lives but also our personal lives. That’s worth celebrating.
We discuss the importance of balance, play, and looking beyond our own needs. That’s worth celebrating.
We gather as a whole team, regularly, to catch up, encourage and celebrate each other, and meet new team members. That’s worth celebrating.
We give our time and financial resources to charities, that are dedicated to doing real work in areas of greatest need. That’s worth celebrating.
We communicate, openly and honestly, about personal and professional aspirations, concerns, opportunities, and areas of improvement. That’s worth celebrating.
We cultivate a culture that embraces a diverse skill set that can (mostly) fearlessly stare down complex problems. That’s worth celebrating.
And finally, we’ve only just begun. In 12 months from now, 2 years from now, and 10 years from now; we can’t wait to look back on these dates to measure how far we’ve come. We’re a growing and good story; may you be too.
Why we need to be different.... and the same.
Greenroom Strategic is faced with the prospect of resolving complex issues both as a part of our philanthropic efforts and in our day-to-day work. The Merriam-Webster definition of "complex" shares that "a group of obviously related units of which the degree and nature of the relationship is imperfectly
known".
What makes something complex is that a small tweak in one area can have disproportionate and unexpected outcomes in another area. How do we deal with these issues and why is Greenroom Strategic well-suited to do so?
If you take a problem like modern-slavery, you find that it has social, religious, economic, military, physical and legal dimensions. You can't treat the problem by targeting a single dimension; indeed tweaking one of them can give you a disproportionate and unexpected result in another. This means that the problem must be dealt with via a variety of people with different areas of expertise. In this way, we harness the range of skills, areas of knowledge and perspectives needed to fully understand the issue and its constituent parts. This is how we need to be different.
However, that team can't collaborate on the problem if there's no cohesion. Greenroom Strategic is attracting people of a certain character via its commitment to profit for purpose, people for people and people for planet. Despite our differences, we share the same values and that is proving critical to our cohesion. In this way, we need to be the same.
The character of the Greenroom Strategic team members unifies our desire to solve issues whilst promoting collaboration across our different areas of expertise. It's a pretty good way to be!