Influence and Culture: Part I

Organizational Culture: So What?

When you want to influence into or within an organization, it's almost mandatory to find out what style it has and adjust your approach accordingly. If you are an employee or part of the organization, this may help you understand why you feel totally at home or out of place.

Definition

Here are two definitions from two of the best. Hofstede has defined a  common set of models for international cultures, while MIT's Schein is a long-time expert who has written what is simply one of the best books on organizational culture.

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“Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values.” -- Geert Hofstede

“Culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic ‘taken for granted’ fashion an organization's view of its self and its environment.” -- Edgar Schein

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Here's a simple take on culture: It's a set of behaviors that defines what's "in" and what's "out"; as a result, it defines who is in and who is out.

What will it take to be influential in your organization? Your company? Your family?!

In their easy-to-read book Corporate Culture, researchers Terry Deal and Allan Kennedy have pinpointed four corporate culture types, based on two elements: feedback speed and degree of risk.

Tough-Guy Macho Culture

This is where fast feedback and reward are accompanied by high risk. Typical examples:  brokerage and sports. Success and high-speed hold the highest value.

This culture positively impacts organizations that operate in unstable environments as well as those

with young and dynamic employees. It's all about individualists and stars with big ideas.

Other characteristics:

• New members need to be militant.
• Success guarantees everything: respect, income, power. Success is celebrated, failures  ruthlessly exposed.
• One can express emotions but not suffering-related emotions.
• Men and women are equal; a star is a star.
• Any talismans and superstitions are tolerated as they can transform the impossible into the possible.

Work-Hard, Play-Hard Culture

• This culture features an outward focus. The unspoken rule: the environment is full of opportunities and we need to take advantage of them.

• Fast feedback but relatively low risk. Actions are less frequent but of more significance.

• Friendly behavior is encouraged while internal communication relies on uncomplicated teamwork. There are frequent celebrations, awards, and ceremonies of various kinds.
  

• The linguistic currency of the organization is filled with abbreviations and sports metaphors. Being active is a plus; being quiet and reserved equates with suspected idleness.

• Problems encountered usually originate from the outside, posed by difficult clients.

Bet-Your-Company Culture

Characteristic of companies with long production processes. This would be reflected in auto manufacturers and aerospace.

The culture emphasizes decision making processes which are focal points in the company; the decisions are high-risk while feedback is slow.

The environment is regarded chiefly as a source of threats. The company attempts to control the environment by means of complicated analysis and forecasts; the results are employed in the decision making process.

Other characteristics:

• Scientific and technical rationale accepted on trust.
• The overarching ritual: meetings. These  unite people from various levels and disciplines within the company. The hierarchy can drive the agenda and sequence of those meetings without concern for content.
  
• Time horizon: long-term. All decisions and actions are contemplated with care and caution.
• Excitement and anxiety are not welcome or valued.
• Mature employees are preferred. Careers are pursued gradually and seniority is a powerful part of the culture. Someone with 5 years' employment can still be viewed as a new employee. 
  
• The heroes are the persistent explorers of the big idea.
• Relationships and language are very polite.

Process culture

Decisions are long-term but low risk. The general goal is of secondary importance while everything focuses on the process itself. Think "bureaucracies" where results are secondary to procedures.

Other characteristics of process culture:

• Excellent and discrete task handling is the top priority. 
  
• Everything is recorded, the smallest operation is documented.
• Distrust and taking precautions prevail - someone from the outside or inside the organization may want to pinpoint a mistake any time and you need to be ready for this.
• The organization’s heroes are people who manage to work faultlessly against all odds.
• Every employee knows the promotion-related privileges and they are often the favorite topic of gossip and intrigue.
• While "red tape" may be frustrating, the results are consistent and predictable.

Use This To Your Advantage

When you understand how things operate--especially the organizations that impact you--you can craft your requests, presentations, and proposals in ways that will help you get a respectable hearing.

If you haven't thought of it before, you may want to use these models as a career template. What kind of organization is the best fit for you? Are your talents not being recognized because you are simply in the wrong culture? The answer to those questions can lead to decisions that will enhance your personal confidence, professional productivity, and overall satisfaction. The right match can make you inherently influential beginning with your first day on the job.

What kind of culture are you working in now?

Is it the kind of match that enables you to be more naturally influential?

License To Live from Jim Stroup is really all about one cultural worldview attempting to impose itself on an entire nation, if not the world. It's not about economics; it's about culture. Economics and Fear are the tools used to attempt to influence a change in the underlying principles that created and sustained the U.S. for more than 200 years. Watch the drama unfold with that in mind.

Comments

[Chris Witt]

This is a great post. As a consultant I'm always walking into new companies, new cultures. And sometimes it takes me a while to get my bearings. I'll have to give it more thought, but I think I function most easily in a work-hard/play-hard culture. But most of my client companies are bet-your-company or process cultures.

Thanks for spelling this out so well.

[Wally Bock]

Great post, Steve. Among the academics, I like Hofstede because his system works across borders. But my favorite definition is the old Deal and Kennedy one from years ago. They defined culture as "the way we do things around here."

[Hayli @ Rise Smart]

Great post, Steve. I'm curious as to your thoughts on whether one person can change the culture of an organization. Or what is it that causes a culture to change? As for one person, it probably depends on the size of the organization and the ranking of the individual, right?

[Steve Roesler]

Chris,

This has a great deal of application when you are working with the "presentation" clients. I recall very, very early on when I was working with a company on their presentation skills that someone said, "We just can't do that here." (The "what" had to do with graphics. They were doing the typical "shine the spreadsheet on the screen" thing). At first it made no sense because the company was paying me a darned good fee to build communication/presentation effectiveness.

You know what? The fellow was right. I went to the sponsoring client, explained what it was we were wanting to change and why it was 'better', and he said, "Don't bother. We don't care, we want it done this way, and that's something we simply don't want to change."

Presentation and influence coaching and consulting has always been the favorite and largest part of our business. I had to learn that even what was proven, tried, and true sometimes isn't welcome in a culture that simply doesn't value it--regardless of it's effectiveness.

[Steve Roesler]

Hayli,

That is the question for the ages. I'll do my best to share related experiences to try and get at a reasonable answer.

1. I've consulted to CEOs some of whom, seemingly alone, brought about massive change. They were totally directive, knew what needed to be done, and created change by creating non-negotiable goals and milestones for achievement. They also introduced new methods for doing business in which everyone was trained. After a very brief period of time, those who were "on board" stayed on board. Those who "couldn't" or "wouldn't" received a severance package.

2. It is obviously easier for a CEO to wield the kind of influence that makes it possible for massive change. However, I have worked with Executive VP's who were so very clear about what they wanted to change and how, that they were successful in changing the culture of their departments. I saw it happen once in an Engineering department of 400 people and again in a manufacturing organization of approximately 600.

3. What causes a culture to change is that people:

a. See a great personal benefit in making the changes

b. See the potential for pain and loss if they don't change.

I have never seen any organization change simply because someone in authority convinced everyone it was "good for the company." That doesn't mean the people didn't care about the company. The ultimate issue is: What is good or bad for me and my family.

Thanks for that one, Hayli

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

Well, this is another area where we fall into the same camp.

I like Deal and Kennedy for the simplicity and straight talk of their definition. And, having spent the bulk of my career outside of the U.S., Hofstede's work simply rings true no matter where I found myself.

[wildcat]

I like this post. I think it is a great idea to get a feel for your companies work environment and so you feel apart of it.