It might seem odd to talk about kindness as a strategy to increase capacity for change, but we see it as a practical necessity. Kindness at work is often thought of as a friendly attitude, a considerate mindset or civility. However, those aren’t the definitions we have in mind. Those are great attributes, but we are thinking of even more.
By Patrick Farrell and Katherine Sanders
Organizational (or company) culture is a difficult topic to wrap your arms around. We all know it’s important, but it’s hard to define exactly what we mean by it, much less how each of us can work to improve it.
Part of that difficulty is because culture isn’t singular. There isn’t one culture that we all experience in the same way. We each live and work within multiple subcultures, and we bring with us our own personalities, preferences, histories and intentions.
It’s also helpful to remember that organizational culture isn’t generated by a single source. A list of corporate values doesn’t create a company culture. It can be tempting to declare an overriding organizational culture and expect it to supersede all others. That never works and can lead us in an unhelpful direction. Oversimplifying what culture is makes it more difficult for us to improve it.
We might draw the cultures people actually experience as a Venn diagram of interconnected circles. Some of the circles (subcultures) are completely enclosed in larger circles suggesting some shared beliefs and practices. Other subcultures might only partially overlap—or not overlap at all, suggesting that some beliefs and practices might be distinct to a particular group.
We see nine levels shaping company culture. These nine subcultures interact to shape employees’ daily working lives.
The first four levels are external influences on a company’s culture. We need to be aware of them and understand their impact, especially if we want to create healthier subcultures within our company. If our organization is challenging the larger cultural context, we should know that at the outset and design the rest of our work system accordingly.
We see levels 5-9 as intervention points for improving company culture. To shift organizational culture, change can (and should) be initiated from multiple places.
When we understand the many possible intervention points, including C-suite declarations, grass-roots movements and everything in-between, we have a better chance of success.
Sanders Consulting and Farrell Consulting help teams implement humane and practical change initiatives.
Note: this is a four-part series. Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4
by Patrick Farrell and Katherine Sanders
Organizational capacity for change is the overall capability of an organization to either effectively prepare for or respond to an unpredictable environment (Saylor Academy, 2012). We’d add that change capacity is also accepting the challenge and responsibility of intentionally helping to shape our future environment.
Our previous posts explain why we need to take strategic action and how to get started. These first steps will eventually build capacity for your group to act on the “big ideas” of your plan. Read more
Note: this is a four-part series. Read Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4
by Patrick Farrell and Katherine Sanders
How often do organizations spend the time and resources to develop a strategic plan, only to fail to operationalize it?
Our hopes and dreams in our Strategic Plan are so big that many times we’re not sure where or how to start. That uncertainty tends to make us fall back on what we already know how to do, and that’s probably not going to make the big ideas happen. Read more
Note: this is a four-part series. Read Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
by Patrick Farrell and Katherine Sanders
Strategic planning helps an institution envision its future. Good strategic plans take a broad view of the internal and external landscapes, envision the organization’s future, and invite innovation to make that future real.
However, a plan is only helpful to the degree that it is actionable. Without action, the plan can’t help us reach our goals.
We put a strategic plan in play by identifying strategic actions. Read more
