Culture ShapingMolly MaymarApril 2015

What Is Culture?

Culture Is (Schein, 1990)1

• A pattern of basic assumptions

• Invented, discovered, or developed by a given group

• As it learns to cope with theproblems of external adaptation & internal integration

• That has worked well enough to be considered valid, & therefore

• Is taught to new members as the

• Correct way to perceive, think, & feel in relation to those problems

CULTURE SHAPING: WHAT IS CULTURE?

1. Schein, E.H. (1990, February). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 109-­119.

What Is Culture Shaping?

Culture Shaping is a “methodical, comprehensive, & integrated approach to shifting a company’s culture from top to bottom”2

(Senn Delaney, 2015)

CULTURE SHAPING: WHAT IS CULTURE SHAPING?

2. http://www.senndelaney.com/cultureshaping.html

When Is Culture Shaped?

CULTURE SHAPING: WHEN IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Critical Incidents Occur• Set of behaviors after an emotionally charged or anxiety producing event create a norm

• Norm becomes a belief & then an assumption

CULTURE SHAPING: WHEN IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Leaders Are Role Models• Leaders model values & assumptions that group members internalize

• Two mechanisms enable internalization

• Primary Embedding Mechanisms

• EX: what leaders pay attention to, measure, & control;; how leaders react to crises

• Secondary Articulation & Reinforcement Mechanisms

• EX: organizational systems & procedures;; stories, legends, myths & symbols

How Is Culture Shaped?

CULTURE SHAPING: HOW IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Three Levers3

I. Lever 1: Participation & Commitment• Commitment Through Choice

• Commitment Through Visibility

• Commitment Through Irrevocability

II. Lever 2: Symbolic ActionsIII. Lever 3: Rewards & Recognition

3. Tushman, M.L. & O’Reilly III, C.A. (2007). Shaping organizational culture. Winning through innovation: a practical guide to leadingorganizational change and renewal. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

CULTURE SHAPING: HOW IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Lever 1: Participation & Commitment

I. Choice• Decisions made without strong external pressure

increase sense of personal responsibility

II. Visibility• Public choices witnessed by those who matter

make nonperformance difficult to excuse

III. Irrevocability• Sense that a line has been crossed discourages

consideration of alternative choices

CULTURE SHAPING: HOW IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Lever 2: Symbolic Actions

• Managers are signal generators who shape employee interpretations of what is important & how to behave

• Symbolic management activities include:

• Providing lucid organizational goals with which employees identify emotionally & intellectually

• Ensuring absolute consistency of words & actions to minimize contradictory interpretations

CULTURE SHAPING: HOW IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Lever 3: Rewards & Recognition

• Systems must reward behavior organizations seek to promote4

• On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B

• Flawed reward systems reward the behavior the rewarder seeks to discourage, while the behavior desired is not rewarded at all4

4. Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management journal, 18(4), 769-­783.

CULTURE SHAPING: HOW IS CULTURE SHAPED?

Lever 3: Rewards & Recognition continued…

• Effective rewards systems:

• Emphasize intrinsic rewards

• Ensure tight linkages between rewards & outcomes

• Capitalize on social learning

• Avoid routine

• Novel, sincere

• Variable, interval

How Is Strong Culture Maintained?

CULTURE SHAPING: STRONG CULTURE MAINTENANCE

Three Characteristics

I. Rigorous talent selection systemII. Intensive employee socialization

• Top management role modeling of norms & values• Cohorts who provide social support• Continual reinforcement of organizational beliefs• Ongoing reinforcement through training, meetings, &

celebrations

III. Comprehensive rewards & recognition• Emphasize desired attitudes, behaviors, & outputs• Signal approval for “walking the talk”