ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Culture Counts!

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Culture is probably the most important organizational success factor and yet it is also one of the most misunderstood and mismanaged aspects of organizational life. As any organization makes the journey from good to great, the cultural values it holds, lives, and exhibits, become “the” powerful force required to reach the next level of performance. In fact, there is abundant evidence that culture absolutely makes a difference in organizational performance. Because of this we can make the statement: “culture counts.” Culture is the mortar that holds the organization together — it’s about people.

Culture is often described as the “soft” side of the business and is therefore thought to be easy to define, mold, and change. You definitely need to challenge that assumption. The soft side of the organizational environment is most often very difficult to orchestrate. Culture within an organization is deep, extensive, and complex. Culture is a very powerful and is an “unconscious set of forces” that both determine individual, as well as collective behaviors, beliefs, values, and ways of perceiving situations and doing things
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When attempting to improve organizational culture, mixing the cultures of split or remote locations, and/or assimilating an acquisition/merger, make cultural changes one of the biggest challenges facing a growing organization. Also, when long-term organizational perspectives collide with short-term financial realities, cultural norms most likely will be affected. Virtually any cultural change will either be unsettling and traumatic or welcomed and inspiring. The key to success is to effectively lead and orchestrate how the cultural change is implemented.

Cultural assumptions and behaviors develop over time and become the core fabric in how the organization performs its basic mission, drives toward its vision, and implements its strategy. The power and influence of the culture either prevents an organization from effectively functioning or allows the organization to achieve high standards and accomplish seemingly impossible goals.

One of the oldest observations of human behavior is that people have a strong tendency to mirror those around them. Whenever you find a strong positive culture, built on strong positive values, you will find endless examples of many people — especially key people — who live and mirror the best values of the organization. A strong positive culture provides members with a sense of belonging, direction, stability, and the desire to serve a higher purpose.

Culture is the set of values, norms, behaviors, and practices that an organization uses to define and shape its day to day activities. Culture is the feeling…the pervasive way of organizational life. The patterns of organizational culture and values emerge and manifest themselves in three complex levels: (1) the level of deep tacit assumptions, the shared, unconscious beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that are the very essence of the organizational culture; (2) the level of espoused beliefs such as the written company values statement, which most often reflects how the organization wants to present itself; and (3) how the organization typically presents itself through its actual day to day behavior (which is a complex compromise between the deep tacit assumptions and the espoused beliefs, modified by the requirements and pressures of the immediate business situation).

This overall complexity, colored by all of the organizational and individual beliefs, feelings, emotions, wants, desires, dreams, talents, and opinions — expressed and suppressed — contribute to the chaotic nature of what we call “organizational cultural behavior.”

An excellent approach to understanding the “real” organizational culture is to see it as the language of day to day feelings expressed through the individual and collective beliefs, gestures, words, and actions of its members. This real organizational culture does not occur or evolve simply as the result of prominently displayed words. Culture evolves because of the behaviors and actions of all members of the organization — particularly those in leadership positions. A carefully thought out set of cultural beliefs, taught, orchestrated, and lived by all individuals, especially those in leadership positions, is essential for enhancing the organizations ability to realize its true potential.

An excellent organizational culture is only sustained over time when the majority of stakeholders in the organization, demonstrate the desired behavior and set the example. To that end it is the responsibility of the organization’s leaders to promote the growth and development of the desired culture along with the full participation of those they lead. It will take this type of collective approach to take an organization from good to great.

Culture is very much about the values and behaviors that show up in the conversations you have with your customers, co-workers, and ourselves— the conversations you have “when no one is watching.” The organizational culture forms the essential definition of who you are collectively and individually. That is, there is no such thing as the private person (the person away from work) and the public person (the person at work).

The person who comes to work —with his or her unique attitude, behavior, and actions — is the real person at work. It is that person who must be united with the organizational culture in serving customers (both internal and external) like no one else. The organizations cultural values are not simply a “suit of clothes,” but are in fact who we as an organization really are. Cultural values are the personal and powerful messages, stated and unstated, we send when we live our cultural values rather than merely state them.

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About Ingbretsen Consulting LLC:
Coach and author Roger Ingbretsen is a certified executive coach and organizational developer, providing organizational and career guidance to professionals, managers, supervisors and all individuals looking for "real world" career development and business information. His entrepreneurial approach will help you learn how to plan, lead and succeed in your career. Roger is the creator of the “Leadership Development Coaching Experience©” and author of the personal development reference eBooks, “Plan Your Career Now: The Survival Guide for the American Workplace” and “Master Your Career: Proven Strategies for Career Success©.” To know more and claim dozens of Rogers free articles go to www.ingbretsen.com or call 509 999 7008.

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