Does culture reside in person or at the work place?

Generally, among the first five questions, the third or fourth asked a school student is 'what is

your father'? Every time this question asked to me, I used to brag and say 'Business magnate'.

Neither I know the meaning of the word 'magnate' at that age, nor did I ask my parents

whether it is the correct one to use for a shop keeper. But it sounds good to use. Similar is the

condition in the corporate world. Everyone profoundly uses and attribute their growth and

success of the business to 'organisational culture'. I often come across such incidents and

people saying, I reflect and perceive them as corporate student at their level. 'Organisational

culture' is always an idiom. More than that, it is intriguing whether the word 'culture' should

be attributed to the people running the business or the context embedded in the workplace?

In the last 15 years of the corporate journey, I spend an equal part of the time in three

different cities' Mumbai' Hyderabad and Gurgaon, in various roles. I consider it my privilege

to be in the same company from inception and as an 'intrapreneur grown in the company and

its growth. In the journey, I have seen three top leadership changes in my company. All three

leadership styles are different, which may be due to their backgrounds and nativity. Founding

CEO was a banker, the second one was Bureaucrat, and the present leadership is an

institutional trader. The common threadbare among all three is the thought of bringing the

change in the existing organisational culture. In bringing culture change, we experienced new

people joining, changing the company's name and logo, and tweaking the values script,

mission, and vision statement. One among them even relocated the corporate office to a

different city to bring cultural change. We used to hear in our meetings about change in

culture with coding ABC1.0 and ABC 2.0 as it resonates like software version upgraded as

per time and people's requirement. But few of us who saw the birth, childhood, and

adolescence of the company never found a significant change in us, in our working style and

approach to business and client. Most of the time, we feel our belief system and our attributes
of influencing, inspiring and empowering people to reflect in the values chart embossed on

the glass door of the office entrance. The actions of executives speak louder than their words

in the process of culture creation. It draws me to philosophical questions if 'culture' has got a

persona how it will look.

'Culture eats strategy for breakfast 'is the most popular metaphor as one of the favourite

management icons. Peter Drucker pointed out the importance of the human factor in any

company. No matter how detailed and solid your strategy is, if the people executing it don't

nurture the appropriate culture, your company and project will fail. These lines remind me of

an episode that happened five years back. Our company ownership has changed in hands, and

the new owner acquired 90 per cent stake he is our new parent. He acquired us for a pretty

decent value and claimed the valuation he has given to the company is not for the assets,

products and business model but the people and culture. It is like music to my ears, and we

felt we are deserving, and it was 'the' accomplishment for us. Having paid generously, the

owner wants to unleash the value and the potential, and in due process, appointed a renowned

'PR' expert. Her mandate was to recognise the strengths of the company and channelise with

proper communication and facelift. Based on my vintage and association in the company, I

was selected one among few to give her the narrative of metamorphosis and culture.

My plate was packed, and I was grappling with few critical issues. I asked her for two days

time. Meanwhile, I requested them to take information from 'Sadanand'. The junior employee

who was with the company from inception joined fortnight before me as an office boy and

grown up on the ladder based on his calibre and integrity. To my embarrassment, she sent an

email to the board chairman and CEO mentioning a lack of sense of priority and highlighting

the reflection of the company culture.

'Sadanand' was a 10th-grade pass. His journey started as temporary staff with the first task of

erection of company nameplate and getting company stamp prepared. He is a true reflection
of the company's culture. To meet company employee academic requirements, he toiled for

five years and cleared under-graduation and graduation as an office assistant. Similarly, the

company reciprocated that taking him on roles. With his perseverance and, at the same time,

company recognition, he has grown up the ladder as assistant manager level in the next five

years. The most deserving and respectable person to talk about culture is 'Sadanand'. His

ascent narrates volumes about the company's DNA. I mentioned the 'punchline could change',

and 'logo' can be altered, but on the day the 'relevance' for the 'Sadanand' character is gone,

and the organisation stops recognition the difference. That day we should consider that is the

significant adverse change in 'Organisation culture'.

Throughout the paper, I am critical of people's perception about culture and superficial and

cosmetic attitudes towards 'organisational culture change'. I am fully aware I am entering into

the stage from 'people following me because of what I have done to them' to 'people

following me because of who am I and what I represent. It always concerns and reminds me

about payback time, reflecting on myself being in the top post in the coming years, and how I

should be cultured about culture. How can I prepare the culture to execute strategy

flawlessly?

I always justify myself as an individual. 'Being original' and 'Being human' will take care of

everything. All along, I thought compliance and control and self-control would take me a

long way. But the 'smell of the place' clip and speech of Prof. Sumantra Ghoshal is an eye-

opener. It fits my philosophy of 'clarity of thought' and 'focus on action'. It is like a paradigm

shift and mental journey for me, i.e. Constraint to stretch in strategy, compliance to discipline

in process, and support not by control and final goal of team management by trust in place of

contract.

A lot of clarity has come from the sessions 'culture resides in the person, and a cultured
person creates a great workplace. Yes, I am ready for the show-time.