When we launched the concept The Culture Code it struck me that the concept of "tough love", which is another word for criticism, is completely accepted. I believe that organizational cultures that are consciously built on goodwill, loving actions and clarity create the most attractive employers of the future. In a culture of trust, good manners and integrity are a prerequisite. Kindness and consideration are also important values in the foundation of a company. Kindness is one of the seven virtues in Aurelius' virtue ethics. But even though the Beatles sang "All you need is love", it is still thought-provokingly "dangerous" to use the word love in a workplace context.
By: Rune Semundseth
Cultivating values, principles and norms in a work environment
What values, principles and norms characterize your working environment? Organizational culture is about what you want to cultivate internally in order to appear as something or other - internally and externally. The reputation your company has built up over time is a result of the guiding values and norms. While values are about what we value, norms are about what is right or wrong in terms of behavior.
Building an organizational culture
The word culture comes from the Latin word cultura, which means to cultivate. A journalist recently asked me what I want to cultivate with this book. I answered benevolence/love and clarity - on top of a foundation of psychological safety and capacity for change. All leadership takes place in a cultural context, and in my experience, many management teams are relatively incompetent when it comes to cultivating a conscious, robust and changeable culture. I think the Soria Moria for all leadership is to facilitate good lives, both for the company's employees and its target groups. Managers have both a right to manage and a duty of care, and with increased focus on what culture work is in practice, more people will experience a deeper meaning in their work life.
We should not forget that both managers and employees have a mutual duty of generosity, now that we have entered a year with blank sheets of paper and new staples to draw and describe the organizational culture we want. Clear and strong cultures have a conscious relationship with both visible cultural elements (such as artifacts), partially visible cultural elements (values and norms) and the more invisible elements (assumptions and beliefs).
Read also: Leadership is the foundation of good culture
Why is conscious organizational culture so important?
The organizational culture inhibits or promotes the strategy. Many companies have not managed to crack the CultureCode, and the culture has remained as it is, more or less unconsciously. In an unconscious and unclear culture - most cultures do not have a conscious relationship with artifacts and to a lesser extent with the importance of defined norms (rules of the game) - things become what they are, a little too random. In poor, or unconscious, cultures, a lack of clarity about what is valued (values) and what is right and wrong (norms) will prevent the company from marching in the direction it wants to go.
Organizational culture can inhibit progress and innovation when the sum of negative assumptions limits both opportunities and performance. A culture that does not establish clear boundaries for what is acceptable and what is not will naturally be characterized by a number of bad habits, such as the inability to speak to and with each other in a respectful manner or the inability to keep agreements (integrity).
Clear and strong organizational cultures have a conscious relationship with cultural elements. When and if the strategy is appropriate and meaningful, we will see that the culture enjoys the strategy for breakfast(Løken and Semundseth, 2019). If the strategy is not good, a strong and good organizational culture will be the band-aid. Trust is the cornerstone of both a great atmosphere and high productivity, i.e. good results. A good culture of trust with a good environment for expression helps everyone to dare to be themselves. This can strengthen the individual's self-image, and such an environment will also help more people receive feedback. In this way, skills development, increased self-awareness and good results go hand in hand.
Culture starts with civility and continues with dialog and goodwill
Our Norwegian culture is increasingly characterized by an understanding of what is sustainable and what is sustainable, but I also think that our queuing culture in connection with events or in traffic can still be improved. It's about how we travel together.
Culture is collective. It's about something we have in common. That's why culture must be worked on collectively, not by advertising agencies and management teams at hotel seminars. It is a top management responsibility to work with organizational culture, and it is also a top management responsibility to ensure that everyone is involved. Everyone should definitely be involved. Everyone has a voice, everyone wants to be heard. Yes, every single manager and employee contributes to the culture and subcultures - consciously or unconsciously - day in and day out. The prevailing organizational culture is the result of both conscious and unconscious actions.
An inclusive and innovative culture is usually characterized by an interest in the person who "walks in the door". Greeting people is a good start! Yes, welcoming people - and new opportunities - is a good start. We are each other's source of insight, success and meaning.
Before involving every manager and employee in the cultural work, it is important to map the current cultural situation.
9 questions to map the current cultural situation
Every leadership team can ask basic questions and assess the extent to which it is building an aware, resilient and changeable culture. Here are some questions to start with:
- To what extent are the leaders in our company good role models with regard to the defined values and norms?
- How much of the organization respects, uses and complies with the defined cultural elements?
- What structures, such as a structured approach to the right mix of strategic conversations and operational conversations, contribute to a strong, clear and adaptable culture?
- To what extent is the expectation contract (written expectations in relationships) characterized by the prescribed norms? Which tools and methods/procedures promote conscious culture building in a good way, and which tools and methods/procedures could be used in a better way?
- To what extent are the artifacts used to clarify desired values and norms?
- To what extent are existing cultural elements given attention in key meetings, documents, websites, office walls, etc.
- How often are meetings held to find new and clarifying culture-enhancing artifacts?
- What are the best stories when it comes to internalizing values, norms and artifacts?
- What established cultural elements create a sense of belonging and pride in our business?
Culture grain to build organizational culture
What do you think about the organizational culture in your workplace, and to what extent have you and your loved ones reflected on these issues? What reflections have emerged while reading this? To what extent will - and can - you influence your flocks, privately and in your workplace, to reflect on these topics? What do you want to cultivate, and why? If this article gave you something to think about and work with, some golden nuggets or some cultural nuggets (thanks, Thor Ingham), I think you'll take action and influence the organizational culture you are part of - to a stronger, safer and more robust organizational culture. It could be a cool ride!
