When Japan drew 2-2 with the Netherlands at this summer’s World Cup, their supporters stayed behind to tidy their section of the stadium.
One fan explained that they are taught to leave a place tidier than they found it.
When it comes to setting and adhering to standards, the key to success is always in the teaching and then making it easy to action. It’s not about posters or grand statements on websites.
Most workplaces spend a fortune on signalling and very little on helping people to develop habits. The people who leave the meeting room as they found it, are deliberately inclusive, challenge a lack of safety or who organise the shared drive are teaching a culture that no values statement can write down.
The World Cup example of teaching people standards and habits is one every culture can copy.
