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November 2005 Editorial: Cultural understanding is essential for leaders!

Welcome to the November 2005 weLEAD editorial

By Dr. Howard Baker

Organizational culture reflects the deep and shared values, beliefs, assumptions, rituals, climate, norms, and traditions of the people who created, lead, and maintain the organization. The culture integrates and binds the organization together into a cohesive whole.

What are the traits of the organizational culture where you work? Chances are great that it has a culture that is in need of improvement. Many organizations have a culture that is politicized, lacking in trust, and dominated by a controlling management philosophy. There are often non-discussible issues that divide an organization. In such a state, cultural transformation is perceived as hopeless by those who are culturally perceptive yet disempowered.

In his recent book, The 8^th Habit, Dr. Stephen Covey had this to say about the state of organizational cultures:

“Even the best organizations I’ve worked with over the last forty years are absolutely filled with problems…There is a fundamental lack of trust, and many lack the skill and mind-set to work out their differences in authentic, creative ways…At the personal level, these organizations are filled with bright, talented, creative people at every level who feel straightjacketed, undervalued and uninspired. They are frustrated and don’t believe they have the power to change things.” (pp 18-19)

In his book Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein writes:

“The bottom line for leaders is that if they do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them. Cultural understanding is desirable for all of us, but it is essential to leaders if they are to lead.”

All organizations, from a family to a large corporation, have a culture. Culture is the result of a complex process involving both the influence of leader behavior and group learning. Edgar Schein says that culture creation and management is the essence of leadership—that culture and leadership are really two sides of the same coin.

Edgar Schein explains that these shared values and assumptions derive their power from the fact that they begin to operate outside of our awareness. Once they are formed they are taken for granted. Schein states:

“…we take culture so much for granted and put so much value on our own assumptions that we find it awkward and inappropriate even to discuss our assumptions or ask others about their assumptions. We tend not to examine assumptions once we have made them but to take them for granted, and we tend not to discuss them, which makes them seemingly unconscious. If we are forced to discuss them, we tend not to examine them but to defend them because we have emotionally invested in them.”

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970); British writer, philosopher and mathematician once said:

"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."

When a person joins an organization, or becomes a new hire, the typical behavior is to assimilate the person into the existing culture. The new person is “shown the ropes” by peers. The new person is quickly taught how to think and behave in conformity to the culture if they want to fit in and succeed. Some organizations even have formal training sessions, “buddy systems” or peer mentoring programs to accelerate the newcomer’s absorption into the culture.

But what if an organization’s culture has deteriorated and become dysfunctional or politicized? Such negative change can ultimately threaten the very survival of the organization.

After the Columbia shuttle disaster the Accident Investigation Board issued a report stating that NASA’s culture inhibited open discussion. The report concluded that a lack of openness and communication was a serious cultural problem within the agency that had contributed to the space tragedy.

It is the responsibility of senior leadership to manage cultural change and assure that the culture is evolving for the better. Management may initiate a continuous improvement approach for physical processes such as manufacturing, yet neglect continuous improvement when it comes to the organization’s culture.

Often management fails to notice that it is failing to notice the need for cultural change. But how can senior management notice if assumptions are taken for granted and those who question the culture are automatically dismissed, or labeled as radical or rebellious? The natural tendency is to listen only to those who are in the center of the organization’s hierarchy, and who validate the existing culture.

Part of the solution can be found in what is called backward learning or reverse mentoring. This is where senior leaders of an organization recognize that newcomers, and those who are not a part of senior management, can offer fresh ideas, insights, and approaches. This is possible because they are not steeped in the current organizational culture.

Traditional mentoring involves older, more experienced individuals advising younger, less experienced individuals. Such mentors often also serve as role models. However, in reverse mentoring, senior managers and executives are mentored by newbies, juniors in the organization, and those who are at the periphery of the organization. Such individuals are given an open ear in order to capture their fresh views and alternative perspectives of the organization. Rather than a top down mentoring approach, backward learning and reverse mentoring is bottom up.

General Electric’s former Chairman Jack Welch brought reverse mentoring to the forefront in 1999 when he instructed 600 of his top managers to pair with younger workers to learn about technology and the Web. Many other successful organizations, such as Procter & Gamble, use reverse mentoring. Such programs are designed to help senior executives update technical skills, develop greater self-awareness of their behaviors, and examine their assumptions.

Reverse mentoring is not only an excellent means of working toward a better organizational culture, it also offers additional benefits by demonstrating to new, younger, or lower level members of the organization that their ideas and opinions really matter. It also helps develop their mentoring, coaching, counseling, and communication skills.

At first glance diversity and organizational culture appear at odds. However, diversity of thought is a great strength once there is general agreement on the principles by which all parties in the organization will operate. Without that agreement, diversity of thought will tear an organization apart. That is why alignment to principles is so critical to cultural change.

In order for backward learning or reverse mentoring to work, seniors must be humble and teachable. Power in the reverse mentoring relationship must flow from alignment and integrity to principles rather than positional authority. Seniors must be teachable and willing to be vulnerable. They must abandon the boss–subordinate relationship and not be afraid of the reverse mentoring process. Rather, they must believe in it and encourage it!

Dee Hock, who created the trillion-dollar Visa credit-card empire, had this to say about leadership in a culture where practices such as backward learning and reverse mentoring are well-established:

“Here is the heart and soul of the matter. If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself—your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you ‘work for’ to understand and practice the theory. I use the terms ‘work for’ advisedly, for if you don’t understand that you should be working for your mislabeled ‘subordinates,’ you haven’t understood anything. Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. All else is trivia.” — Fast Company, October-November 1996.

Comments to: hbaker@leadingtoday.org

To read more of Dr. Baker’s articles, click here to locate the “Baker Collection”.

About the author:

Dr. Howard Baker is Director of Education for INSPIRE! Learning Systems. He holds a B.S. in Management from Samford University, a Master of Accounting (MAcc) from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has been a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) since 1989. He is an adjunct professor in both Business Administration and Public Administration at the University of Texas at Tyler. Dr. Baker is a lifetime charter member of weLEAD and the founding editor of the weLEADInLearning web site’s E-Journal of Organizational Learning and Leadership located at www.weleadinlearning.org. His weLEAD email address is hbaker@leadingtoday.org.