My next two blog posts will unpack some simple ideas I have developed over the years about organizational culture.
Organizational culture is a common topic these days. Google finds 13,400,000 hits in .94 seconds! One of my favourite bloggers posted about it recently. Two months ago it was the lead article in a popular business magazine.
If the sheer volume of content hasn’t convinced you of its importance, Peter Drucker’s famous line certainly will: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Culture eats strategy for breakfast (Drucker). Why do so many leaders spend more time on strategy? Share on XStrategy is tangible and easily communicated on paper, culture not so much.
Ideas about organizational culture and strategies to improve it have become clouded in complexity. This has left most leaders looking for a simple model to understand it and practical tips for making it better.
Here is a simple but memorable maxim: Culture is determined by what you tolerate and what you reward.
Cultures are formed day-in-and-day-out by what gets tolerated and what gets rewarded.
Culture is formed daily, not in a day, by what the leader rewards and what the leader tolerates. Share on XThe best cultures have two defining characteristics: strength and health.
A strong culture means there is growing commitment to the mission, values, strategy and structure throughout the entire organization. Commitment comes through clarity, understanding and buy-in.
A healthy culture means there are quality relationships in every team, at every level, and across all divisions. Quality comes from deepening trust, vulnerability, speaking the unspoken and having the hard, but necessary, conversations.
Every organization, regardless of industry, operates in two dimensions: the public dimension and the hidden dimension.
The public dimension is the persona of an organization, that is, the way we want our organization to be perceived. We create persona by crafting the big four:
- Purpose Statement: “Why we exist”
- Corporate Values: “What matters to us”
- Strategic Plan: “What we try to do and how?”
- Org Structure: “How we get work done
Clarifying the big four is important but somewhat rudimentary. It’s hard to think of an effective organization that hasn’t defined these four key areas.
The hidden dimension is the personality of an organization, that is, how the organization actually operates – not just how it appears. Personality is the collective way of thinking, believing, and acting. The personality of the organization is driven by another big four: personal motivations, espoused values, day jobs, and the informal networks.
- Personal Motivation: “Why I am here”
- Espoused Values: “What matters to me”
- Day Job: “What I am trying to do”
- Informal Networks: “How I get work done”
Consider the iceberg metaphor (I know, another iceberg metaphor, but it works!). The public persona of an organization is the tip of the iceberg. It’s visible but small. The hidden personality of an organization is the vast structure of ice under the water, many times larger than the exposed tip. The key is this: the tip is visible but what’s underneath is in control.
The strength of an organizational culture is measured by the symmetry between the public persona and the hidden personality of the organization. High symmetry means strong culture, low symmetry means weak culture.
When the purpose statement of the organization aligns with the motivations of your staff and key volunteers, there is a high level of symmetry. The more people in the organization that are personally motivated by the purpose statement, the stronger the culture.
The more people are motivated by purpose, the stronger the culture. Hire for passion fit. Share on XWhen the corporate values of the organization align with the espoused personal values of the staff, there is a high level of symmetry. The more people personally espouse the corporate values the stronger the culture.
The more people can articulate a direct link between their day-to-day work and the larger strategic plan, the stronger the culture.
The more people understand the link between their role and the strategic plan, the stronger the culture. Share on XFinally, when the organizational structure aligns to the informal networks people use every day to get their work done, there is a high level of symmetry. The more people that see the org chart as a source of support and empowerment (not useless hierarchy), the stronger the culture.
The opposite is also true and needs to be understood. When your staff are not emotionally committed to the purpose of the organization, apathy sets in and culture weakens along with it.
When the corporate values of the organization are not espoused by the majority of your people, disengagement prevails and culture suffers.
When few in the organization can link the organizational strategic plan with what they do every day, motivation will tank and culture atrophies.
When the organizational structure hinders productivity rather than empowering it, morale crumbles and culture along with it.
If the org structure hinders productivity rather than empower it, morale crumbles & culture along with it. Share on XOrganizational culture is less mysterious than we might think. It is determined by objective principles that need to be understood and honoured. Strong cultures are created by well aligned symmetry between the public persona and hidden personality of the organization.
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