{"id":3859,"date":"2011-06-13T11:21:25","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T15:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/?p=3859"},"modified":"2011-06-13T11:21:25","modified_gmt":"2011-06-13T15:21:25","slug":"strategy-structure-and-culture-aligning-organizational-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/2011\/06\/strategy-structure-and-culture-aligning-organizational-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategy, Structure, and Culture: Aligning our Organizational Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Matt Westervelt via Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve consulted with over 100 organizations in the last 25 years, but in the last five years I\u2019ve noted a distinct trend. Organizational leaders used to contact me with a vague request for mediation or consulting services because \u201cwe have a conflict and we need help to resolve it.\u201d In recent years, however, leaders have been much more likely to specifically request strategic planning or structure review processes\u2014and often both together. I\u2019ve experienced this shift as an encouraging move towards proactive rather than reactive intervention processes in organizations.<\/p>\n

I also attribute this shift to growing awareness among organizational leaders of the importance of aligning structure with strategy. Organizational leaders today are keenly aware of the importance of developing a shared vision and values to enable diverse organizational members to work together for a common purpose. And most leaders also know that the decision-making structures that might have served the organization well for years need to be reviewed and often revised. In the turbulent environment within which all organizations now must operate, more organic and flexible structures are becoming an urgent priority.<\/p>\n

But while I am increasingly asked to lead \u201cstrategic planning\u201d and \u201cstructure review\u201d processes, I have only once been asked to conduct a \u201cculture review\u201d for a client. Strategy is about vision and structure is about authority, so both are critically important. But culture is about meaning, and meaning will trump both vision and authority over time. As Peter Drucker once said, \u201cCulture eats strategy for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t organizations typically undertake culture audits? For one thing, it\u2019s very hard to do. Most of culture is at the level of assumptions, beliefs, values and norms\u2014and thus is tacit and invisible or at least informal. We may hesitate to initiate a study of our culture as we honestly don\u2019t know how to do so. But I\u2019ve also come to believe that organizational leaders intuitively know that an organization\u2019s culture is stronger than even its top leaders. When a new leader eager to \u201cmake big changes\u201d encounters an entrenched organizational culture the culture almost always wins. This is why many lead pastors, school superintendents, and even U.S. presidents don\u2019t last more than three or four years in their roles. So how do we change an entrenched organizational culture, at least when that culture is preventing the organization from fully achieving its mission and vision?<\/p>\n

In our Little Book of Healthy Organizations<\/a><\/em>, Ruth Zimmerman and I offer five suggestions for successful cultural change. They are as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Learn the culture.<\/li>\n
  2. Name the strengths and weaknesses of the culture.<\/li>\n
  3. Build a coalition of organizational members committed to cultural change.<\/li>\n
  4. Work at cultural change incrementally rather than instantaneously.<\/li>\n
  5. Become the change you wish to see (especially important for leaders).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An organization\u2019s culture (often comprised of numerous subcultures as well) determines the organization\u2019s behavior more than the organization\u2019s strategy or structure. Yet it is the one element of organizational life that we are least likely to study, name, or work deliberately to change. Let\u2019s celebrate what\u2019s right about our organizational cultures, but let\u2019s not hesitate to also name the weaknesses of our cultures and work cooperatively to change them.<\/p>\n

    Related posts:<\/p>\n