Organizational Culture
By describing and understanding organizational culture (what we call “revealing” organizational culture) you will be better able to fulfill your role in helping organizations perform better. You’ll be able to better understand the choices that organizations make and be more likely to guide successful choices. Those who choose to reveal their own organization’s culture will be better able to:
- orient new staff and board members,
- find better leadership matches,
- better understand and define their theory of change,
- develop more effective strategies,
- market and communicate more effectively, and
- make successful choices about restructuring or mergers.
In short, by having a deep appreciation for what organizational culture is and taking the time to reveal it in your own organization, you will be more effective in almost every leadership and management choice you make.
Edgar Schein defines organization culture as, “A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration...that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.” And claims that by understanding organizational culture, we can better understand why organization’s do what they do.
Through our proprietary process (ROC revealing organizational culture) we explain what organizational culture really is, why it is so powerful, and why you must understand it to be effective in today's environment. No matter if you are a business owner, leading a nonprofit or working as a manager, organizational culture may be your single biggest ally or enemy. Through the ROC we help you understand and describe your organization’s culture and then identify a plan for how to use culture to help you succeed.