Often the focus is primarily on developing vision rather than understanding culture. Get the strategy right; make the people fit into it, and the results will come. Yet we cannot change people or groups of people by proclaiming a fresh vision and structure per se.
Culture is about the unspoken assumptions or paradigms that shape our corporate practices and personal behaviors. It’s the narrative or theology or myths or learnt ‘skills’ that define our common identity. It will contain all manner of habits and attitudes, both constrictive and dysfunctional.
New vision or fresh priorities or revised programs or re-structuring means change – change to the ingrained culture. Change is highly energy-intensive at best - but if there are dysfunctional cultural elements or if the leadership culture is toxic then the energy required to handle the resistance; anxiety and often hostility may overwhelm the good intentions.
This article in Forbes Magazine caught my eye recently. What would you say are the signs of an unhealthy corporate culture?
