Introduction to Organizational Culture

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Hyper Island, April 2016

@thomasreibke [email protected] www.belowthesurface.cc

http://www.belowthesurface.cc

HELLO!

www.belowthesurface.cc

My name is Thomas, I founded Below The Surface

Below The Surface is a group of experienced facilitators and organizational practitioners. We empower teams and leaders to reach their highest potential, and lead their companies in times of change and uncertainty.


ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE WHAT IS IT?

Culture is the collective beliefs, values, and actions organizational members use to pursue a company’s mission.

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Culture is the glue that holds everything else together






Culture permeates every aspect of your organization







Culture isn’t ping-pong tables, post-its and company

away days!

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IS IT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?

Culture isn’t just part of the game - culture is the game!

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Enduring companies have clear missions and clear values.

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Without cultural alignment, your strategy is just a plan on a piece of paper.

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Culture is the only competitive advantage your competition can’t easily copy.






S&P 500 Russell 3000 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For

11.08%

6.41 %6.04 %

0

3

6

9

12

Comparative Stock Market Performance (1997-2003)

Source: Best Companies to Work For Institute

The best companies perform 2x

times better than the average market!




75% of the workforce will be millennials in 2025

90% of millennials want to use their skills for good

50% would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values


FUTURE WORKFORCE




ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE YOU DON’T PULL IT OUT OF HAT

“Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”

- Mahatma Ghandi






Every human organization creates a unique culture.






Culture is the collective wisdom that comes from lessons people learn when they adapt and survive over time.






- Beliefs, values and assumptions of founders

- Learning experience of group members

- New beliefs brought in by new members/leaders

- (The first one is by far the most important)


SOURCES OF CULTURE






ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE WE SEE WHAT WE BELIEVE

The lessons of the past shape our survival strategies for the future.






The knowledge in our cultures is always yesterday’s knowledge, developed to meet the challenges of the past.






“The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence, but of the coherence of the story that the mind has managed to construct.”

- Unknown







It’s the 90% below the surface that will sink your ship.

NORMS & BEHAVIORS WHAT WE DO

BELIEFS & ASSUMPTIONS WHAT WE BELIEVE

VALUES & ATTITUDES WHAT WE SAY WE DOL

esso

ns

Su

rviv

al






ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE GREAT CULTURE COMES FROM GREAT LEADERSHIP

Don’t F*ck up the culture!



IDEA

MARKET FIT

PRODUCT

CULTURE





Ask yourself and your colleagues:

- What values are most important to you?

- What values do you need in order to realize your mission?

- What are the most important values for business success?

- What values will you look for in employees?

- What could never be tolerated?


FORMULATE YOUR VALUES






We live the value of collaboration by:

“Always putting the customer before the company, the company before the team, and the team before ourselves.” - Zappos

“Always making each other look good!” - Pixar


TRANSLATE YOUR VALUES






- Role-model your values

- Stand for your values

- Use your values in decision-making

- Turn your values into daily rituals and habits

- Interview for culture fit

- Evaluate performance on culture as well

- Revisit and update your values

- Celebrate your values

- Allocate resources (trainings, staff, space etc.)


LIVE YOUR VALUES






ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE HOW WE READ IT?


SUB-CULTURES


Culture is what is taught to new organizational members.






• Operators (based on human interaction, high levels of communication, trust and teamwork)

• Engineers (elegant and abstract solutions to problems, automation and systems)

• Executives (financial focus, lone hero, sense of rightness and omni-science)


ARCHETYPES






1. Visit and observe

2. Identify artifacts and processes that puzzle you

3. Ask insiders why things are done that way

4. Identify espoused values that appeal to you, and ask how they are implemented

5. Look for inconsistencies and ask about them

6. From the above, figure out the deeper assumptions that determine the observed behavior.


CULTURE MAPPING






Culture Canvas

NORMS & BEHAVIORS 1. Visit and observe

2. Identify artifacts and processes that puzzle you

VALUES & ATTITUDES 3. Ask insiders why things are done that way

4. Identify espoused values that appeal to you, and ask how they are implemented

BELIEFS & ASSUMPTIONS 5. Look for inconsistencies and ask about them

6. From the above, figure out the deeper assumptions that determine the observed behavior.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Culture Canvas by Thomas Reibke (Below the Surface) inspired by Edgar H. Schein.

Title / version / date:



1. Identify the sub-cultures

2. Identify the espoused values

3. Look for inconsistencies

4. Determine beliefs and assumptions

5. Use canvas to document and share findings


MAP THE CULTURE OF HYPER ISLAND






Business

Introduction to Organizational Culture