ECOSYSTEMS, PARADIGMS AND THE CULTURE WEB
Understanding and managing the culture of your team or organization
Organizations can be viewed as a system of mutually reinforcing resources – an ecosystem. Closely related to the ecosystem is another factor affecting a firm’s success: its cultural paradigm. When people join an organization they are taught that ‘this is the way we do things. Understanding this paradigm is enhanced using a culture web.
Cultural ecosystems
Culture is collective and learned. It keeps organizations rooted in past methods and shapes behavior – which is why understanding culture is important to changing behavior or implementing new strategies. Culture can change in two ways: through incremental evolution or revolution. Sometimes, when the culture is out of line with the needs of the market, a radical break with the past is needed.
What is required is an emphasis on managing value drivers (aspects that make the greatest difference and provide most benefit to customers). Of these value drivers, employee-related factors (such as employee retention, satisfaction and productivity) determine customer service, revenue growth and profitability.
Paradigms
A paradigm can be defined as the beliefs and assumptions that employees hold about an organization and take for granted. This is an inevitable feature of working in organizations – people make assumptions. They are positive when they are used to define an organization’s competencies and formula for success, successfully guiding the way people work as well as allowing the organization to develop. If the paradigm is mismanaged, however, it will act as a conservative influence and a barrier to progress, adaptability and change. A valuable technique for managing paradigms is to be explicit about them, discussing their key elements and mapping them in a culture web.
The culture web
An organization’s culture or paradigm is best understood through a culture web. The central paradigm is comprised of several interrelated elements:
• Stories and myths are tales (some real, some imagined) that symbolize what the organization is about.
• Symbols include logos, titles and terminology that best capture the way people work.
• Power structures are closely associated with the central paradigm and include powerful managerial groups (such as directors and the board) as well as groups that make the most money or create the brand.
• Organizational structure, which is often changed and may be easy to change, is an important aspect of the culture web. It includes formal ways of working, it reflects the power structures and it signals what is important in the organization.
• Control systems include any aspect of the organization that enables it to exert control. This includes remuneration, measurement and reward systems that indicate what behaviors are important in the organization.
• Rituals are best described as ‘the way we do things here’. Often taken for granted, they include links within the organization and any activities that reflect its nature and character.
The paradigm should reflect both the ecosystem and the sources of internal competitive advantage – for example, the tacit knowledge and experience of employees should be reflected in the paradigm.