Build Entrepreneurial Aug 25 | Bristol Organization

“A company's culture is the foundation for future innovations. An entrepreneur's job is to build the foundation.”

- BRIAN CHESKY

As our society evolves, so do our expectations around workplace culture. Many companies are shifting away from traditional, top-down structures – think Fortune 500 – to more agile, entrepreneurial models popularized by the tech sector.

In our work with nonprofits, we’ve found that most fall into two cultural styles: hierarchical (where decisions flow from the top) or family-based (where loyalty and cohesion shape decisions).

While all culture styles (see graphic below) offer strengths, today’s fast-moving, post-pandemic world demands something more. Nonprofit leaders face shifting funding streams, rising demands for transparency, changing demographics, and a need to attract and retain mission-driven talent. To meet this moment, nonprofits must move toward a more entrepreneurial culture – one that is open to feedback, responsive to change, focused on results and committed to continuous learning.

You often hear people say that nonprofits should be “more like businesses.” What they usually mean is: be more entrepreneurial. But what does that really look like in the social sector? Let’s break it down to its component parts. Management guru Peter Drucker said it best:

“An entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it and exploits it as an opportunity.”

The most successful high-impact, high-performance organizations see change coming and adapt to it. One of the key drivers of these organizations is culture, which, when cultivated with intention, can mean the difference between a good and great organization.

Our favorite definition of culture comes from Debra Thorsen – “An energy force that becomes woven through the thinking, behavior and identity of those within the group.”

Taken together, entrepreneurial culture can be a powerful energy to unleash into your organization and a tool to motivate employees, especially mission-driven millennials and Gen Z, toward making a difference.

The Four Elements of Entrepreneurial Culture

There are four elements of entrepreneurial culture – openness, adaptability, results and rewards, and being a learning organization – that can be translated directly to nonprofit environments. Below we expand on these four elements and provide you with reflection questions to assess your organization’s entrepreneurial culture.

Openness: A culture that shares ideas, data and feedback freely and widely

Do leaders genuinely welcome ideas from all levels of the organization?
Are both successes and failures shared transparently?
Do people feel comfortable sharing constructive criticism to push thinking and minimize risk?
Do staff at every level understand how their roles connect to the mission?

Adaptability: A culture that stays attuned to change and adjusts with confidence

Are you monitoring client, donor and volunteer feedback – both quantitative and qualitative – to detect shifts in needs and/or behaviors?
Do you regularly seek feedback from external stakeholders about your performance and opportunities to improve?
Do you challenge the status quo (a.k.a., “We have always done it this way.”) to ensure that it’s still the best approach?

Results and Rewards: A culture that values performance – and rewards the right behaviors, including organizational citizenship

Do you push decisions downward to those on the front line and with the most information?
Do you reward the right behavior more than you correct negative behavior?
How does your organization handle failure? Do you capture lessons learned and use them to improve?

Learning Organization: A culture that invests in growth and psychological safety

Do employees set personal growth goals — and have time to pursue them?
When something goes wrong, does everyone pitch in without playing the blame game?
Do you share best practices and noteworthy trends with everyone for feedback and possible implementation within the organization?

How to Spark Cultural Change

When we work with nonprofit leaders on culture, we start by inviting them to reflect on their own cultural preferences. Our favorite tool for this is the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)—a validated framework from the University of Michigan that helps individuals and teams assess both their current and preferred organizational culture, highlighting areas of alignment and tension. We will collect individual results, then create a team culture profile to spark honest conversations about what kind of culture the organization needs based on its strategic direction.

It’s worth noting: most organizations are a blend of cultural styles. There’s no single “right” culture, but there is a right fit for your mission, team and moment.

Putting It Into Practice

If you’re ready to spark cultural change, start small. Use the four traits of entrepreneurial culture—openness, adaptability, results and rewards, and learning—as a lens to assess where your organization stands today.

At your next team meeting, walk through the reflection questions under each trait. Ask:

What’s working well in our culture right now?
Where could we stretch or grow?
What cultural traits will help us meet our current strategy and future vision?

Then, invite your team to vote on:

2–3 short-term ideas to pilot or improve over the next 90 days
1 long-term idea to champion across the next year

Then, monitor these ideas quarterly and celebrate progress. Culture isn’t built in a day — but it is shaped every day. But when nurtured intentionally, an entrepreneurial culture can energize your team, deepen your impact and help your organization thrive through change.

We’d love to hear what cultural shifts your team is prioritizing. What small step could you take today to bring your vision of an entrepreneurial culture to life?