Couple of weeks back, I interviewed a candidate. He spoke about his experience on developing a learning culture. I asked him, “What is culture?”
He said, “it’s the behaviours and decisions made leaders and employees”
What more?
“It’s the physical layout, structure, even the system.”
OK, anything else? He thought and finally said, “belief that learning is important.”
He made good attempt. Culture is all this and more….
Culture is always there, whether consciously designed or left to evolve naturally. Culture for me is best explained by Sumantra Ghosal, he said, “culture is the smell of the place”.
When organizations, embark on culture transformation, efforts are made to enable the leaders and employees to change their behaviors. This is supported by education, training, recognizing desired behaviors, storytelling and even some physical symbols like office re-design.
Changes achieved through such efforts are short-lived; they reach only the visible levels of the iceberg. Sustained change requires looking at the deeper aspects of the culture – going below the iceberg.
Staying with the example of learning culture, to build a learning culture, organization may take a slew of actions like:
– Training programs I self-paced online learning opportunities
– Create knowledge sharing platforms, encourage learning through observation, shadowing etc.
– Recognize employees who are constantly learning
The uptake of these initiatives will be inconsistent or short-lived if:
– Mistakes or vulnerability is frowned upon
– There is a need to appear competent and knowledgeable at all times
– Learning is secondary to meeting deadlines, targets or being at call of the leaders
Thus, culture needs to be looked at three levels (Edgar Schein’s framework):
1. Artefacts and Behaviors are visible, experienced and can be described easily.
· behaviors of people: in meetings, one-on-one, who talks when
· channels of communication, language, frequency
· workplace layout – open office, cabin sizes, colors
· dress code, rituals, ceremonies
2. Beliefs and Values – represent what the organization truly believes in and influence the artefacts and behaviors.
· who and what is more valued, example: steady state performance or taking calculated risks.
· what is acceptable and not, example: is it acceptable to challenge status quo?
3. Assumptions – Unconscious beliefs and perceptions that guide behaviors and decision making. They influence how people make sense of their environment. Few examples:
· get it right the first time!
· get results, at whatever cost
· key decisions must be made at the top
Next time you think of culture, refrain from staying just at the visible level… but dig beneath the surface to uncover the hidden dynamics that drive the culture.
Perspectives 