Every human organization creates a unique culture all its own. From a small family business to a large global corporation, each organization has a distinct identity.
A culture always reflects the collective wisdom that comes from the lessons people learn as they adapt and survive together over time. These traditional habits and customs have kept the firm alive and well over time speak loud and clear. And when uncertainty rears is ugly head, the culture rules! All members of the corporate tribe tend to fall back on their tried-and-true methods that have distinguished them from their competition in order to weather the storm.
So, our corporate mindset and worldview shape the way that we use the lessons of the past to forge the strategies of the future. How well are business leaders doing? Well, the record is not all that encouraging.
In his new book, "Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy," Daniel Denison and his co-authors detail how an organization's culture has an impact on business performance in four main ways:
Creating an organization's sense of mission and direction
Building a high level of adaptability and flexibility
Nurturing the involvement and engagement of their people
Providing a consistency that is strongly rooted in a set of core values
Dension created a way to measure culture in a widely used "Culture Survey" designed to help organizations focus on the issues that need attention and move beyond a discussion of employee satisfaction, engagement and morale, to better understand the actions they can take to build their organizations for the future.
At the core of this model we find underlying beliefs and assumptions. Although these deeper levels of organizational culture are difficult to measure, they provide the foundation from which behavior and action spring.
Source: "Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy," (Hardcover $20.61)
John G. Agno: Can't Get Enough Leadership: Self Coaching Secrets (Paperback $28.99, ebook $2.99)