Four years as a volunteer at the Spanish Association Against Cancer have made me understand that the main function of communication in any organisation that aims to have a social impact is to help turn it into a collective learning ecosystem which, in turn, drives interaction processes that generate change in its environment.
That is why I would like to take advantage of 4 February – International Cancer Day – to share a reflection that will hopefully help us overcome a paradigm that limits the transformative power of communication by understanding it as a mere process of disseminating information.
This reductionist view of communication, which naively attributes to it the ability to change perceptions and behaviours, has a significant opportunity cost when we talk about social challenges such as cancer, which require a shift in the focus of communication from persuasion and reputation to cooperation and its prerequisite: trust.
The purpose of the learning service
The digitisation of the economy and the automation of knowledge production systems, which are driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also require a new conception of the relationships between organisations and their environment.
While it is true that we have accepted the need to transform organisational models towards greater decentralisation and autonomy, the role of corporate culture in transformation projects and the implications of its relevance for the managerial role itself are not so well known.
The influence of corporate culture on organisational behaviour manifests itself through shared core beliefs about ‘what needs to be done’ in line with the organisation’s raison d’être and the results of observing the environment, listening, introspection and reflection; processes that make learning the basis of the evolutionary process of individuals and organisations.
This paradigm shift regarding the role of communication requires a prior paradigm shift regarding the role of leadership in organisations with social impact. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the relationship between corporate communication, transformational leadership and the influence of corporate purpose.
Trust as a starting point
Only through trust can a vision for change be created that breaks down knowledge silos and develops collective innovation capabilities in collaboration with other key players in the environment.
The cultural influence of leadership and its transformative capacity stem from trust and the reinforcement of the ability to ‘learn to learn’, both within the organisation and in the society of which it forms part.
It is this capacity that allows us to change continuously by integrating two equally necessary forces into the behaviour of organisations and society: change and stability. Therefore, we can say that corporate culture is both the cause and effect of the evolution of organisational identity.
Dynamism of culture
The dynamism of corporate culture is embodied in a conversational process that helps us replace ideas that no longer serve to explain reality and guide our behaviour.
From this perspective, communication must be a transformative conversation that consists of:
- The expression of the values that arise from the shared beliefs
- The creation of symbols
- The interpretation of reality.
Organisational learning thus defines the new managerial function, which consists of promoting new communication processes capable of moving from discourse on ‘innovative culture’ to innovative behaviour resulting from the transformative capacity of the union between thought and action thanks to a constructive and ongoing debate on identity.
The influence of this innovative culture on the dynamism of the organisation and its social impact are the result of:
- Contextual intelligence, which results from integrating relevant information from outside and inside the organisation.
- Creative confidence, which is achieved through the generalisation of a sense of belonging and awareness of the organisation’s distinctive personality (self-knowledge).
- The high level of commitment, which requires ‘intrinsic motivation’.
Lead from the future
Action-oriented thinking stimulates cultural dynamism and turns it into a factor for change by guiding relationships with other key players, both to improve decision-making and to design future scenarios.
A dynamic organisation requires a communication system that reinforces not only collective awareness of the organisational purpose, but also an understanding of the usefulness of a few simple rules that determine the behaviour necessary to achieve it and that also condition the way in which future challenges are faced.
This collective vision enables the organisation to evolve in solidarity with its environment and activates a network of alliances to monitor the evolution of potential risks, facilitating anticipation and preparation for crisis situations.
Accountability: inside and outside
An organisation’s strategic link with its environment is truly effective when it has an accountability system in place, both for the contribution of each part of the organisation and for the impact of the whole on society.
Only if we stop viewing reputation as an end in itself and use it to build genuine relationships of trust, will we be able to convert information from a global and dynamic environment into continuous knowledge and innovation, while also strengthening transparency.
To achieve this, senior management and governing bodies must contribute, with the support of communications professionals, to:
- Create a sense of alignment and encourage experimentation through the way you behave and interact.
- Create stories that connect identity with the dynamism of the environment
- Design and update listening systems
- Design and update support systems to overcome obstacles in the learning and personal development process.
- Design and update systems for measuring social impact and their consistency with the organisation’s priorities.
- Design and update talent management systems
- Recognition systems based on the sense of belonging
- Compensation for the contribution to results
- Compensation for the contribution to collective learning
- Compensation for the contribution to the connection with the environment
These indicators of learning and innovation capacity must be integrated into the management model so that they can be assessed in terms of their relationship to and influence on the dynamics of:
- Financial assets
- The value proposition
- Internal processes, especially those involving:
- Senior management
- Teams in the core of operations
- Communication
- Marketing
- Human Resources
It may seem that many organisations that genuinely want to be impactful entities are far from having a communication system designed to create an effective link with their environment.
The intention with which I share this reflection is precisely to point out that the path is short if that will is sincere; it is the path of surrender of accounts.
Hopefully, this reflection will also help to put corporate communication at the service of cooperation—beyond shared intentions—among all organisations working for the well-being of people with cancer.
