My main contribution, I believe, is to challenge people to change how they think about what work they do, how they do that work more collaboratively, and how they measure that work -- as one means to accelerate achievement of goals.
2. Why is it important for book publishers to reassess and evolve their culture?
Culture is largely misunderstood by many as the "soft" province of the Human Resource director -- and often as an impossible task for an overworked few. In fact, it is the most powerful tool for business execution and innovation -- but one that needs to be consciously invested in. To make culture change more actionable in meaningful ways, avoid judgmental terms like good or bad. I suggest evaluating whether a culture is "aligned" with what a publisher says they want to do in today's marketplace. If a publisher wants to simply do what they've always done and are doing well -- no change to strategy, products, services, promotion, pricing -- and their culture is working to deliver this dependably and with high levels of employee and customer satisfaction, then "don't mess with Texas!" Celebrate alignment.
Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.