On Organisational Culture
“How do we create the culture we want?” she casually suggested as the topic for the next time the class meets. Luckily, I had recently refreshed my thoughts on the topic and I felt energised for the challenge of sharing a bit of theory and practical tips.
This post is an abridged version of the class, with appropriate references for those who want to dig deeper into it. A little bit of theory, followed by a micro workshop.
There are many sources of inspiration and knowledge available on the topic of culture. Yet, I believe Dave Snowden, in his series of seven articles on culture, says the most important things about culture and its dynamics with these paragraphs:
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“Culture is manifested in what we do, not what we say about why we want to do things.”
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“Culture arises from multiple small interactions over time and it is manifested in the day to day anecdotes of those who we work with and who we work for.”
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“Never ever attempt to design or engineer an end product, instead choose the type and nature of the scaffolding you will construct and see what emerges.”
This means that ping pong tables and value words on the walls, or some document, is not culture. And more importantly, it is not something you set or design. It’s there, and it is alive.
Still, the question “How do we create the culture we want?” is a valid one, and one I suggest approaching with more of Dave’s suggestions in mind, namely:
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“All initiatives start with mapping the here and now, understanding the ideation patterns and meaning-making capability of the organisation – they don’t start with a set of platitudes about how things should be.”
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“Changes to the system involve mapping and changing constraints, ideally experimentally with rapid amplification of success and dampening of failure.”
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“Fractal change is achieved by the engaging question, ‘How do we create more stories like these and fewer stories like this?’ That engagement is at the level of the groups capability to act in the short term – its not about talking about what other people should do.”
So, what can we actually do? Well, lots of things! Get conversations going, engage people, and create the conditions for the stories you would like to be told. Here’s a simple workshop, that I’ve done with groups of varying sizes:
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Ask yourselves, “When we’re at our best, what’s that like?” That’s a Clean Language kind of question, which usually gets the conversation going. You might want to facilitate it a bit so that everyone is heard. Liberating Structures 1-2-4-All pattern is useful.
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Following Dave’s advice, follow up on the previous question with, “How do we create more stories like these?” and “fewer stories like these” if those kinds of stories showed up as well.
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With the whole group’s agreement, choose a handful of options—that are within the group’s capability, will, and energy—to act in the short term.
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Set up any kind of follow-up mechanism for the group to review themselves on how they’re doing. Adjust and repeat.
Personally, I really like this approach. It has a little bit of Clean Language, Solution Focus, and Dialogic OD in it, and results in an energising and positive experience.
It’s only fitting to end this short piece with the Chinese proverb:
Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions.
Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.
Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.