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KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
Volume
18, September 2002
Publisher: © Key Associates, LLC, 2002
http://www.mkkey.com
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This Issue is on "Organizational Cultures"
Contents:
"If you want to find your culture, just try to
change it."
-Kurt Lewin
"First we shape our structures, then our
structures shape us."
-Winston Churchill
"Transformation involves a sort of adolescence,
a period of inelegance when we shift from one
way of being to a new way of being."
-Peter Scholtes, Heero Hacquebord
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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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CREATING AND SUSTAINING CULTURES
PURPOSEFULLY SHAPED BY VALUES
WHICH MATCH THE LEADERS' BEHAVIOR
(MODELING THE WAY).
ACKNOWLEDGING AND USING THE
INFORMAL ORGANIZATION (WHICH TRULY
RUNS THE PLACE), WHILE WORKING WITH
OVERT STRUCTURES TO SHAPE A HEALTHIER
WORKPLACE.
RECOGNIZING THE HARMFUL EFFECTS
OF INTERNAL COMPETITION; REMOVING
BARRIERS TO ENTERPRISE IN ORDER TO
CAPITALIZE ON ALL INTERESTS.
GOING FIRST. EVERYTHING LEADERS
DO (AND DON'T DO) DELIVERS A MESSAGE.
LEADERS MUST BE THE FIRST TO CHANGE.
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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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Is there too much weight on your shoulders?
Bradford and Cohn, in Managing for Excellence,
wrote about the "Heroic Manager," who tries
to have all the answers, has to be in control,
coordinate, direct. Thus setting in motion a
vicious circle, where associates are more
passive, accept less responsibility, and the
manager takes more. What kind of heroic
manager myth are you portraying?
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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How can I influence the culture?
What's the best way to begin to implement change?
People are naturally scientific--they like to know
the reasons "why." The reasons can be some form
of crisis or pain or sense of urgency. More
effective and enduring is increasing desire or
aspiration. Meld people's aspirations into
a dream or vision that is more compelling than
the reality they live in now. Link to people's
hopes not fears. Fear may produce compliance
but not commitment.
Why can't we set up a Transition Day and just
convert everything over?
Most cultural change takes years--at least five
or more. The purpose of a culture is to maintain
stability and predictability in times of change.
Transformation involves people and
emotions and all that is messy. Deep cultural
change is a revolution in thought and an evolution
in behavior--one incremental step at a time,
one person at a time. Still, some of the most
rapid change I have seen is when there is an
abrubt change in leadership.
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Join us in learning how to Create an Environment
for Success by Architecting Culture.
Training for customer-oriented cultures
http://www.customerfocusinc.com/customer_focus_training.htm
Training focused on merging cultures
http://www.cmd-hmc.com/merging_corporate_culture.htm
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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
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HR Powerhouse http://www.hrpowerhouse.com/
has free corporate culture forms and tools.
How to energize your culture in uncertain times,
http://www.organizational-culture.com/.
The power of agreement in long-term cultural change
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/OrgDev.htm
How to boost morale and create a positive culture
http://www.communicationideas.com/boostmorale.html.
Launching major cultural change and effective teams
http://www.participative-dynamics.com/
.
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
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Cameron, Kim S. and Quinn, Robert. Diagnosing
and Changing Organizational Culture: Based
on the Competing Values Framework (Addison-
Wesley Series on Organization Development).
Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley, 1999.
Deal, Terrence & Kennedy, Allan. Corporate Cultures:
The Rites and
Rituals of Corporate Life.
Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley, 1982.
Deal, Terrence & Kennedy, Allan. The New
Corporate Cultures:
Revitalizing the Workforce
After Downsizing, Mergers, and Reengineering.
New
York: Perseus, 1999.
Kilmann, R.H., Saxton, M.J., Serpa, R. & Associates.
Gaining
Control of the Corporate Culture.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985.
Kohn, Alfie. No Contest. Boston: Houghton-Miflin, 1986.
Ranney, Gipsie. Reviewing Organizational
Policies and Rules. Piqua,
Ohio: Ohio Quality &
Productivity Forum, 1990.
Ryan, Kathleen & Oestrich, Daniel. Driving Fear
Out of the
Workplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
Schein, Edgar. Organizational Culture & Leadership:
A Dynamic View.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985.
Schein, Edgar and Bennis, Warren. The Corporate
Culture Survival Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
The Deal and Kennedy model of corporate culture.
Deal and Kennedy's Corporate Cultures (1982) was a landmark
work and incorporated five critical elements:1. The business environment - the orientation of organizations
within this environment - for example a focus on sales or
concentration on research and development - leads to specific
cultural styles.2. Values - are at the heart of corporate culture. They are
made up of the key beliefs and concepts shared by an organization's
employees. Successful managers are clear about these values and
their managers publicly reinforce them.3. Heroes - personifications of the organization's values,
achievers who provide role models for success within the
company. Heroes have vision and go against the existing
order if necessary in order to achieve that vision.4. Rites and rituals - ceremonies and routine behavioral rituals
reinforce the culture (product launches, sales conferences,
employee birthday celebrations, etc.)5. The cultural network - the carrier of stories and gossip
which spread information about valued behavior and
'heroic myths' around the organization.
