What is Culture?

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An organizational culture defines the proper way to behave in an organization

Culture is what people do when no one is looking

Culture is the organization’s immune system

Culture is the operating system

Culture consists of habits of the majority

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Culture is the tacit social order of the organization

Culture is a pattern of shared tacit assumptions that was learned by a group as

it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that
had worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to
new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to
those problems.

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 Research on Culture

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 Shared, pervasive, enduring and implicit
Flexibility (that values
innovation, adaptation and
change)
Means
(internal
processes and
the long term)
Organization (that
Choice between polarities values well being and
People (that development of
values well being and organization)
development of
people)
Ends
(final outcomes and
Dis-proportionate impact on business the short term)

Control (that values

stability, order and
predictability )

Culture that enabled our success, will also cause us to fail

 Diagnosing Culture

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 Diagnose your Team Culture

Focus on People Focus on Organization

Stability Flexibility

Individualistic Collaborative

Short term thinking Long term thinking

Process focus Results focus

Parent to Child Adult to Adult

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 Representation Diagram of Culture
Stability
Results focus
Individualistic

Long term
Parent to Child thinking

Focus on People Focus on Organization

Adult to Adult

Short term
thinking

Collaborative

Process focus
8 Flexibility
Various Culture Diagnostic Models

Sociability – Solidarity

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Diagnose your Team Culture – Consultative Approach

1. Which values of your organization are practiced as non-negotiable and

which ones are not?

2. Narrate a story that happened recently that helps us understand this gap/
challenge clearly.

3. Share the physical artifacts (policies, systems, physical spaces) and team
behaviours embedded in the story.

4. What assumptions underlie this conflict?

 Culture Iceberg

Physical Artifacts
Cultural Behaviours

Cultural Values

Cultural Assumptions

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Performance Issue: Poor Customer Survey

Feedback
Physical Artifacts and Behaviors:
Chipped tiles/unqualified contractors/company does not penalize contractors for poor quality work/ poor quality of
supervisors/ monthly progress meetings are focused solely on work progress (not customer)

Espoused Value: Customer First

We exist and prosper only because of our customers and their
satisfaction continues to be our priority.

Assumptions:
We know more than customers/ Customer will not notice/ customer will not protest
quality defects / We can manage customers/ We will deal with quality issues only
when and where they get escalated by customers.
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Performance Issue: Poor Customer Survey

Feedback
Physical Artifacts and Behaviors:
Customers sign off in future after doing a quality check/ One promoter customer and one detractor customer
invited for the monthly progress meetings to give feedback/ More performance weightage to quality work over
completion on time.

Espoused Value: Customer First

We exist and prosper only because of our customers and their
satisfaction continues to be our priority.

Assumptions:
1. We will educate customers regarding quality and make ourselves accountable. (Quality conscious
customers pay premium)

2. We will encourage people to show vulnerability helps to address fires before they become
unmanageable. (Asking for help is good management)
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Diagnose your Team Culture – Consultative Approach

1. Which values of your organization are practiced as non-negotiable and

which ones are not?

2. Narrate a story that happened recently that helps us understand this gap/
challenge clearly.

3. Share the physical artifacts (policies, systems, physical spaces) and team
behaviours embedded in the story.

4. What assumptions underlie this conflict?

Various Culture Diagnostic Models – Consultative Approach

Written Rules and Unwritten Rules

Written rule: We are going to promote fairness

Unwritten rule: Be fair by the book

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Career Progression
Motivator
Based on performance of person

Changes you can introduce:

PMS Leadership council
Enablers 1. 360 degree reviews to capture
Data Decision makers soft aspects of performance
2. Introduce “Beyond KRAs”

Changes you can introduce:

Not
Only set wasting 1. Peer to peer recognition
Only KRAs time on Project schemes
work to
Triggers Focus on with things
leadership
2. Leadership engages and coaches
the person
the KRAs tangible not council 3. During presentation of work,
gains factored ensure person talks about
in PMS tangible and intangibles
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Change in culture: Fairness

Written rule: We are going to promote fairness

Unwritten rule: Be fair by the book

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Change in culture:

Written rule: Stated by the management, written in the policy, conducted as

training
Unwritten rule: How people interpret what they need to do to survive
and succeed in the culture
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Change in culture: Functional lenses to business lenses

Written rule: To become a top manager, you need broad experience

Unwritten rule: To get to the top, job hop as soon as possible

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Change in culture: Performance driven culture

Written rule: The best performing managers are recommended for

accelerated promotion by their bosses
Unwritten rule: Keep your boss happy
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Change in culture: Intrapreneurship

Written rule: Managers are accountable for their profit and loss

Unwritten rules: Protect your own turf

Watch your quarterlies
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Written rule:
We are going to Motivator Career Progression
promote fairness

PMS Leadership council

Enablers
Unwritten rule: Data Decision makers
Be fair by the book

Do not
Only set waste Project
Only KRAs time on your
Triggers Focus on with things work to
the KRAs tangible not leadership
gains factored council
in PMS
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Career Progression
Motivator
Based on performance of person

Changes you can introduce:

PMS Leadership council
Enablers 1. 360 degree reviews to capture
Data Decision makers soft aspects of performance
2. Introduce “Beyond KRAs”

Changes you can introduce:

Not
Only set wasting 1. Peer to peer recognition
Only KRAs time on Project schemes
work to
Triggers Focus on with things
leadership
2. Leadership engages and coaches
the person
the KRAs tangible not council 3. During presentation of work,
gains factored ensure person talks about
in PMS tangible and intangibles
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Exercise

What are your organization’s written rules and

unwritten rules?
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(What is most important to me. This is what I want to get

Motivator from the organisation in return from my services)

(Who will give me the

Enablers motivator - person,
persons, policies etc.)

(What do I need to do to
Triggers ensure the enabler gives
me the motivator