“Hundreds of cultural discussions are consciously or unconsciously held at the coffee machine”

Martin, you are the Head of Personnel and Organisational Development at ETH Zurich and member of the rETHink project team on culture (Work Stream 6). Where are we now in Work Stream 6 in the different units, how did the process evolve over time, and how do you experience the cultural discussion that is going on across ETH Zurich?

Let me start by giving some examples: Last week there was a faculty retreat at one ETH-department where the professors discussed how they deal with conflicts and how they potentially deal with conflicts in the future. Another example: one year ago, in September, I had the chance to discuss culture with the faculty of D-BSSE. To give a third example: The AVETH launched a big exercise across ETH Zurich and about 60 PhD groups joined this game and discussed ‘culture’ on group levels. One more example: I had a one-to-one discussion with a professor and he asked me what he could do in the upcoming retreat to thank the staff for all the efforts during the pandemic. It was the first time they would meet again after 1.5 years… These are examples about culture and cultural developments, both in individual groups and across ETH on all levels, that are currently going on. But let’s be realistic: I also got critical feedback from professors. Last week, for example, I received an email from a PI {principal investigator} who wrote that he was here at ETH Zurich to do excellent research and excellent teaching; he had no time for discussions about culture. Not all departments are keeping the discussions going on all levels like the D-BSSE is doing. I am really honest with you: you are really doing great.
Overall, we know about 40 officially held cultural discussions. Two such discussions were held at the D-BSSE, and the outcome was reported to our Work Stream. So, we have collected feedback from 40 formal discussions but I am sure there are hundreds of more discussions which were consciously or unconsciously held at the coffee machine, on the corridors, in group meetings, where culture is being discussed. Many of them not directly linked to rETHink Work Stream 6. You see, the process is ongoing, but we need to improve, we need to intensify and broaden the dialogue across ETH Zurich. This is an ongoing process.

You just mentioned the feedback: the team around Work Stream 6 collects all the reports from the different units. Based on this feedback, do you already see something in common, are there some conclusions you can extract - already at this point?

Yes, actually one conclusion is quite close to what Karsten Borgwardt just presented at the Digital Campus. The 60 groups of doctoral students reported that the two ETH values ‘team spirit’ and ‘responsibility’ are the most important values they are expecting from group members and peer members but also from the PIs. So, this result is similar to what you have found at D-BSSE. What I also see in the many discussions I have taken part in is the value (or word) ‘excellence’, it is discussed very controversially. Is it a value or is it a goal? Is it the product out of team spirit, responsibility and so on? So, on ETH level we really have to discuss whether ‘excellence’ is a value? In addition, we need to discuss: where do we want to be excellent? In research and teaching - these are key areas at ETH Zurich - we need to thrive for excellence. But in other areas we need to ask ourselves: can we be excellent in whatever roles we are taking? I can take my own example: I am a team leader, I am a moderator, I am giving interviews - like today -, I am a trainer, and so on… can I be excellent in all these domains? I think we have to be realistic and this is the type of discussion we need to have on all levels across ETH Zurich.

What is a good cultural discussion for you?

That’s a good question! My simple definition of culture is: Culture explains ‘how do we do what we do?’ A good cultural discussion starts with our awareness of how we do, for example, inclusion. How do we include people - as a team, as a department. I encourage you to discuss in your group: how does inclusion look like if somebody would observe us as a team. What is the current status. And now, in view of your BSSE 2030 strategy, ask yourself: where do we want to be? How does inclusion look like in 10 years? And then you might see a gap. And once you have defined this gap you start by asking: how do we fill this gap? You can fill it with the onboarding process, you can fill it with events, you can fill it with guidelines etc. But please keep in mind, culture starts with behaviour. Hence, we need to think and discuss about what is my individual contribution towards a better inclusion in our team? What do I change? Maybe tomorrow there is a new person in our team, what could be my first step? All doctoral students, all students, all PIs should consider: what can I do as an individual, what can we do as a team, and what can the supervisor or the PI do regarding inclusion - to stay with this example. Then we are on all levels: on the individual level, the group level and the leadership level, on processes, on events…and all this together helps us to develop towards the direction we want to go. And if we discuss on all these levels and on small steps, on small actions (these are the important ones) - then I am convinced it is a good cultural discussion. 

Thanks for this easy-to-remember formula: How we do what we do! Many thanks, Martin, for this deep-dive underneath the iceberg.