Organization Culture - What is it?
Why does it always seem to be delusional.Most organizations put up some written mantra or culture statement in offices, but actual practice ...
Why does it always seem to be delusional.Most organizations put up some written mantra or culture statement in offices, but actual practice seems contradictory.
It flows from the top(leadership team) to the bottom. It is what you say and do, and how you say it; and how you do it. Culture is not a document, but it can be defined by documents.
When you create a process, policy or procedure, you are inadvertently creating the culture. When you set up rules or procedures during your meeting, you are forming the culture. Culture operates in the minds of the people. Not really about a mantra or philosophy. When you become very friendly with you colleagues or even junior staff, you are subconsciously "working" a culture. It is more than saying "I have an open door policy". If a junior staff barges into your office and you are able to 'tolerate' him and hear what he has to say, then that is culture that you are forming. Culture never flows from the bottom-up. It is the other way round. "Culture eats strategy for break fast", they often say.
Culture is about how you do what you do.It is the human element of the organization.It is the "interface" that connects every human person within your organization. When you openly admit that you are wrong in spite of relating it with a lower level staff or a colleague, then you are in the art of culture creation. When you punish that engineer or staff for that little or significant error he made in production, then you are creating or defining a culture.
Culture does not live in the past;but draws from past experiences. It lives in the present and evolves in the future. How you relate with your employees,customers, partners, vendors, contractors, etc who constitute the "human elements" of interactions becomes or forms your organizational culture.
It is beyond what you put up after your organization vision and mission statement. It is how you are currently doing what you are doing now.
It flows from the top(leadership team) to the bottom. It is what you say and do, and how you say it; and how you do it. Culture is not a document, but it can be defined by documents.
When you create a process, policy or procedure, you are inadvertently creating the culture. When you set up rules or procedures during your meeting, you are forming the culture. Culture operates in the minds of the people. Not really about a mantra or philosophy. When you become very friendly with you colleagues or even junior staff, you are subconsciously "working" a culture. It is more than saying "I have an open door policy". If a junior staff barges into your office and you are able to 'tolerate' him and hear what he has to say, then that is culture that you are forming. Culture never flows from the bottom-up. It is the other way round. "Culture eats strategy for break fast", they often say.
 |
| Image credit : Medium.com |
Culture is about how you do what you do.It is the human element of the organization.It is the "interface" that connects every human person within your organization. When you openly admit that you are wrong in spite of relating it with a lower level staff or a colleague, then you are in the art of culture creation. When you punish that engineer or staff for that little or significant error he made in production, then you are creating or defining a culture.
Culture does not live in the past;but draws from past experiences. It lives in the present and evolves in the future. How you relate with your employees,customers, partners, vendors, contractors, etc who constitute the "human elements" of interactions becomes or forms your organizational culture.
It is beyond what you put up after your organization vision and mission statement. It is how you are currently doing what you are doing now.