Instead of starting from scratch, you can repurpose your toolkit. Changing your company’s cultural toolkit to accommodate the changing priorities and needs of an organization does not require completely replacing every aspect of the toolkit. They bring a fresh, unbiased perspective to the question. Also, because perceiving a culture from the inside is not always evident, you may want to ask newcomers in the organization what they have learned about how things get done in the organization. How do they react to setbacks, how do they resolve problems, or how do they take initiative, for example? Look for more widespread habits, not habits that can be attributed to an individual’s characteristics. Pinpoint instead the actual habits and behaviours of your employees and managers when they’re getting work done. First, forget the pithy words and phrases, such as ‘integrity’ or ‘celebrating difference’, when defining your organization’s culture. What is your organizational culture? Answering this question may be more difficult than expected. Also, elements of the toolkit can be somewhat contradictory and still work effectively.īased on the insights above, Howard-Grenville, Lahneman and Pek present three steps for managers and employees seeking to improve their culture or leverage their organizations’ cultural toolkits to effect change. The reality is more complex and nuanced as employees know when, where and how to apply aspects of the culture depending on specific situations. Phrases such as ‘shared values’ can give the impression that uniformity and unity are characteristics of effective organizational cultures. From the toolkit perspective, employees draw on toolkits that exist beyond their work-toolkits related to their personal interests and activities, for example-that will influence their work habits and goals. ![]() Sustainability and diversity are examples of externally driven or at least inspired organizational cultural elements in most companies. This myth ignores the impact of outside stakeholders and influences. Organizational insiders create culture. ![]() What skills and habits are people using to achieve their tasks and responsibilities? How many ways do people tackle problems, start initiatives, seek feedback? The answers to these types of questions define the tools in the ‘cultural toolkit’, a phrase developed by Swidler. Sociologist Ann Swidler points to the habits of employees and managers as the manifestation of organizational culture. Founders and early leaders may establish an organization’s culture and new leaders may change certain aspects, but a culture persists only if employees internalize its tenets and use them to guide their actions. Leadership exclusively defines and controls culture.Writing in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jennifer Howard-Grenville of Cambridge University, Brooke Lahneman of Simon Fraser University (now at Montana State University) and Simon Pek of the University of Victoria argue that to best use an organization’s cultural toolkit as a lever for change, leaders must overcome three common myths of organizational culture. Recognizing the fluid nature of organizational culture, organizational researchers are replacing the traditional concept of culture as an entrenched ‘code’ established by leaders with a new concept of culture as a ‘toolkit’ of resources. This undertaking, however, is complicated by the amorphous nature of organizational culture as an invisible but pervasive force guiding how people think and behave, rather than a tangible and clearly defined facet of the company that can be manipulated and improved. Significant developments such as new strategies, new competitive pressures, or new leadership often require changes to a company’s organizational culture. ![]() At the heart of the framework is the concept of organizational culture as a ‘toolkit’ of resources. Building on their own research and case studies, as well as the research of others, three experts in organization studies build a framework for organizational culture as a lever for change.
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