Organisational culture

Schein's model

Edgar H. Schein of MIT (Organizational Culture and Leadership, 1985) described culture as a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems, and taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel. He distinguished three levels:

Culture is not what is written in the statutes but what people actually do, especially when no one is watching. If espoused values (e.g. “everyone is equal”) differ from assumptions (“the leader and his relatives decide”), people believe the assumptions.

The leader and culture

Schein wrote that the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. He identified the main mechanisms through which leaders shape culture:

• what they pay attention to, measure and control;
• how they react to crises and mistakes;
• how they allocate resources (time, money, attention);
• what they model and teach;
• whom they reward, promote and remove.

The popular saying attributed to Peter Drucker, “culture eats strategy for breakfast”, has no confirmed source in his writings, but it captures the experience of many organisations.

Culture in the White Book

The White Book preamble lists building an organisational culture grounded in service, respect, humility and responsibility as one of the four tasks of leadership. It also speaks of a “culture of responsibility, formation, transparency, communion and service” in which communities can grow safely. The image of Nehemiah rebuilding the “walls” is precisely an image of healthy culture, and the White Book's provisions are practices that shape it.

How to change culture

Culture changes slowly. What helps: naming current assumptions, consistency between leaders' behaviour and espoused values, new rituals and stories, consistency in rewarding and correcting. John Kotter places anchoring change in the culture as the eighth and final step of leading change. See also psychological safety.