“Memes” and their role in developing a coaching culture

It is widely recognized that creating a coaching culture in education, health, business and other organisations is beneficial and will help grow happy, healthy, fulfilled human beings who perform well. Most coaching literature focuses on how to change organisational culture, indeed a Google search, with that term, yields around 273,000,000 results (Harvard Business Review Dec 2012). In the National Health Service(UK), coaching is now used to develop leaders, staff and used within patient care to improve health outcomes. In education, the same is also happening, from coaching for head-teachers, through to schemes for primary age children. This is all in its infancy and doesn't constitute a massive “culture change”, but at least its happening. However, the majority of people do not work within education, health or progressive organisations. This group of people constitutes the larger part of society – the man or woman on the street, or the mum in the playground.As a broader society, we have many challenges, but we don’t have people around us, helping us to help us think differently, challenge, respond and adapt (well rarely impartial ones). And yet the need for adaptive, progressive thinking in mainstream society has never been greater. Society’s current challenges include: the changing world of work, uncertainty following school or university, an increasingly aging population, shrinking natural resources such as oil, shrinking pension pots, changing family patterns, climate change and economic instability to name just a few.So there is very good reason to extend the development of a coaching culture to society as a whole. So what’s needed?rnAccording to Dr. Dennis O'Neil, Palomar College, California, “all cultures are inherently predisposed to change and, at the same time, to resist change” He goes on to identify three main ways that culture change occurs: Diffusion, Acculturation and Transculturation. Diffusion is the movement of things and ideas from one culture to another e.g. when McDonalds arrived in different countries. Acculturation is what happens to an entire culture when alien traits replace traditional cultural patterns such as European culture replacing Native American Indians in the USA. Transculturation is what happens to an individual when he or she moves to another society and adopts its culture. We can also include another process, one that has a new name but is very old and has much more power in today’s socially connected, technology driven world. Dr O’Neil might call it “stimulus diffusion” where change occurs within a society as a result of an idea that diffuses from another: like a Cherokee Indian observing English being written, subsequently invents a new writing system. Learning by imitation is one thing, but in terms of culture change, something more widespread and viral is needed, which is where the “meme” and “social contagion theory” come in. If you haven’t heard of a “meme”, it’s an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture, like a social“gene”. Memes are used in advertising. For example, we immediately know which chocolate bar helps you “work, rest and play” or which soft drink “is it”. This ‘knowing’ is down to a meme. What about having a “meme” for coaching or personal development? Do we have any at present? Social Contagion Theory can be understood as being on the flip side of the coin to memes. It refers to the spread of an activity or mood from person to person throughout a group. Studies show how Social Contagion Theory can spread things rapidly like happiness to smoking and from food consumption to tastes in books and music. It could help spread coaching too. If you look at Social Contagion Theory, it occurs through transmission by touch or contact. Sometimes a simple exposure may be sufficient for this transmission to occur,yet the question is whether people are having enough real contact with coaching, for it to “infect” or “transmit”. The following would really help the coaching culture to grow within mainstream society: - Creating some coaching “memes” which are easy to spread and that people immediately recognize and relate to coaching. - Learning from and drawing upon Social Contagion Theory to help transmit those “coaching memes” - Developing some natural networks where personal development/coaching is the norm, easily available and embraced: “ Rumors, fads, and opinions can spread through social networks like wildfire, “infecting” individuals until they become the norm”Barash (2011) - Developing approaches which help people experiment with coaching in an easy, quick, affordable way -small steps and small actions are most effective. As coaches and leaders in personal development, we all have a role to play. ReferencesrnBarash V (2011) The Dynamics of Social ContagionPhd Thesis Univeristy of CornellrnHarvard Business Review To Change the Culture, Stop Trying to "Change the Culture"rnby Robert H. Schaffer | 11:00 AM December 6, 2012rn