The Flow of Organizational Culture

New Thinking and Theory for Better Understanding and Process

Jim MacQueen

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9783030256845
• eBook ISBN: 9783030256852
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

This book presents a new approach to organizational culture based in the ontologies of process metaphysics, complexity theory, and social constructionism. The author shows that most existing definitions of organizational culture are inadequate and argues that organizational culture is socially constructed, building on Schein's idea that culture emerges as a dynamic response to problem solving by the organization's members. Through several case studies, he demonstrates that neglecting an organization's culture is responsible for the failures of organizational change efforts and shows how using this new model will lead to improved results. This book will be a valuable resources to anyone interested in organizational studies.

© The Author(s) 2020

Jim MacQueenThe Flow of Organizational Culturehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25685-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Jim MacQueen¹

(1)

InFlow OD, Bethel, AK, USA

Jim MacQueen

Email: [email protected]

Keywords

Organizational cultureSystems thinkingTheorySocial constructionOntologyOrganization development (OD)TheoryConsulting

End Abstract

No man steps in the same river twice. (Heraclitus)

One of the originators of the field of organization development, Kurt Lewin, once said, “There is nothing so practical as a good theory” (Lewin, 1951). Lewin seems to have had a great sense of irony when he mixed the concepts of practical and theoretical in the same sentence. “Practical” carries with it a sense of usefulness as well as connotations of something that is down-to-earth, pragmatic, utilitarian, and realistic. “Theoretical,” on the other hand, is more closely associated with the notion that something is abstract, conceptual, hypothetical, intangible. Certainly, there is a kind of tension between the two words. I think the juxtaposition is intentional, designed to construct challenges to our thinking as we struggle with something like this book that is both practical and theoretical.

Good theory needs to be put to use in a practical, utilitarian way. However, for it to be truly useful, we need to be able to understand the concepts and ideas that are its foundation. There is little in this world as abstract and difficult to understand as organizational culture. And yet, we can experience the force of its existence tangibly. Scholars, organization development (OD) practitioners, and managers have been working to define and harness culture’s energies since at least the 1950s when an awareness of organizational culture first began to blossom.

In this book, I will offer up new perspectives, ideas, and interpretations of theory about the nature and processes of organizational culture. It is my hope that these new approaches will help to release the energy embedded in Lewin’s dynamic tension between the practical and theoretical and make the book useful in both realms. Throughout the book, you will find practical ideas about consulting to and changing organizational cultures. In every case, I have tied those ideas to the theoretical concepts and philosophies of other scholars and practitioners (especially Edgar Schein, Karl Weick, George Lakoff, and Mark Johnson) as well as my own. As a boy, I was the type who liked to take things apart to see how they worked. Toys, clocks, kitchen gadgets, all were the targets of my curiosity. As an adult, organizational culture has become the target of a similar drive to separate its parts and understand how those components work together as a whole. The theory in this book is one product of those explorations. Another is the consulting practices that come out of that theory. I am happy and excited to be sharing both with you in this book.

Speaking of you, who do I imagine you to be? First of all, I hope this book will be valuable to consultants like myself: knowledgeable OD practitioners with some experience explicitly working with organizational culture. Like me, some of what you have tried didn’t turn out so well while other efforts exceeded expectations, though you may not have understood fully why that happened. I hope this book helps you to create more consistency in your practice by providing you with new ideas and insights on both the theoretical and practical sides of your work. This book is intended to be a springboard for your intellect, imagination, and invention to take your practice into new areas and to higher levels. It is not a collection of how-tos or recipes for dealing with organizational culture. You will have to make those up for yourself.

I am also hoping this book will be of use to those of you who are students of OD and to your teachers. There are many ideas contained here that are not included in the more traditional OD texts. Or, if they are, they may show up in a different form with a different point of view. Some of the underlying ideas I think are quite important. They will be new to you and perhaps a little challenging. Some ideas, such as systems thinking and social construction, are not explained here in any great depth. These topics are too big to be handled effectively within the scope of this book. Also, it seems they are already a part of the discourse of students that I’ve encountered over the last few years. (Please don’t assume that you don’t need to study these topics or others that are touched on but not elaborated in this book because I haven’t taken the time to deal with them in more depth. I believe that studying those topics, if you’re not already familiar with them, will markedly increase your insights and abilities as consultants.)

I want to reference a second Lewin quote for this introduction “A culture … is not a static affair but a live process like a river which moves but still keeps to a recognizable form” (Lewin, 1951). This speaks to an idea that is fundamental to this book: All organizations and their cultures exist in a flow of time and process.

In my mind, this statement by Lewin is closely related to a principle of change articulated over 2500 years ago by the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. Heraclitus is famous for saying, “No man steps in the same river twice.” This statement is true because the river is always changing. The water that is in it today is not the same water that was in it yesterday, this morning, or even two minutes ago. In addition, you are always changing. If the baseline is yesterday, what have you learned or experienced that is new or different for you since then? You have changed physically and psychologically since yesterday, this morning, or even seconds ago. This idea is fundamental to much of the premise of this book and so I will be referring to it periodically as we move ahead.

Organizations and their cultures are like Heraclitus’ river. They exist within the flow of time. Their processes, like time, are continuous. As a consultant, the group you worked with yesterday in many ways will not be the group you work with today. Any change or disruption that happened to their processes between yesterday and today will have had an effect on their assumptions and beliefs about their organization. Their sense of identity as part of the organization may have shifted. In addition, their plans about what actions and activities they may need to engage in today may also be different. In effect, their culture will have changed, possibly not in an immediately noticeable way. (Noticeable changes may often take a long time to emerge.) The assumptions that constitute that culture may have shifted and are on their way to manifesting themselves in the groups’ behavior. As a consultant, you need to be aware of this, not because you are necessarily going to change what you do with the group now, but because you need to be prepared to do so. In other words, staying centered, in touch, and in sync with the organization’s culture as it flows is critical to your success as a consultant.

This book provides a tour of the elements of organizational culture. Understanding these elements, their interactions, and interdependencies is necessary to the work of consultants who want to work in this particular part of the field of organization development (OD). These are the consultants who seek to participate with an organization in developing or changing an aspect of its culture. Especially if this will be happening in the context of supporting the resolution of some business problem or structural change effort. In general, the book examines how culture is created from the moment people begin to organize, to how culture tends to be regarded in the process of change management, to the processes at work in an organization as culture is being formed. Along the way, there are descriptions of how I have consulted to cultural issues and recommendations about consulting practices and techniques. What follows is a chapter by chapter overview of this tour so that you can anticipate where we are going.

In Chapter 2, “A Culture Perspective: Growing culture in a Community Garden,” I examine some very basic ideas about the nature of organizational cultures, how they grow and function in everyday life, and how culture is part of an organization from the moment people start to organize. It will cover a bit of the history of how a few representative scholars have conceived of culture over the last 60 years.

In Chapter 3, “A Mental Model of Organizational Culture,” the answer to the question “What is organizational culture?” gets fuller and deeper consideration. In the course of this chapter, I present several scholars’ models of organizational culture. I also present my own model of culture as a system of processes, a central tenet of this book. I include several diagrams to help make the ideas more accessible.

Chapter 4, “Sense and Meaning,” explores the use of two words many authors use almost interchangeably when discussing culture: “sense” and “meaning.” Here, we explore in the context of this work, the subtle distinction between these words. The differences are important to understanding how organizational culture works and what are some of the products it produces.

We spend a little time in Chapter 5, “Ontologies of Organizational Culture,” thinking about some of the philosophical perspectives that are important to the book’s particular conceptualization of culture. This will be important for your understanding of the underpinnings that support this specific framework of ideas and your practical application of those ideas as we get into the latter parts of the book.

Chapter 6, “Culture and Organizational Change,” demonstrates in a very practical way how and why it is important to maintain a “culture perspective” in your professional work. I will take you through an examination of John Kotter’s change management model as he presents it in his book, “Leading Change” (Kotter, 1995). This chapter will describe in some detail how and when you, as a consultant, should be putting your attention on an organization’s culture during such a process.

In Chapter 7, “Creating Context: The Role of Sensemaking in Producing Culture,” we take advantage of Karl Weick’s insightful wor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. A Culture Perspective: Growing Culture in a Community Garden
• 3. A Mental Model of Organizational Culture
• 4. Sense and Meaning
• 5. Ontologies of Organizational Culture
• 6. Culture and Organizational Change
• 7. Creating Context: The Role of Sensemaking in Producing Culture
• 8. Metaphors: A Critical Culture Tool
• 9. Using the Ideas and Approaches: A Case Study
• 10. Working with Organizational Culture: Ideas About Consulting
• Back Matter