Organisational culture analysis and change

• Why does it remain here viscous and slow, while we are saying we are a ‘lean’ company?
• Why do we keep focussing on products while our strategy says we are ‘customer oriented’?
• We want to organise it small-scale, but we stubbornly heap meetings and structure things centrally…

Sometimes it is difficult for organisations to accomplish important changes towards the current strategy. Despite the adjustments true change doesn’t occur. Whatever is tried, the organization persists in doing the same.

Besides conscious strategies organisations are steered by sets of tacit, shared and unconscious assumptions; the organisational ‘mindset’. This mindset is completely self-evident for the organisation and its members. As long as the strategy concurs with these assumptions its leads to good results and competitive advantages.  But results drop when circumstances change and the self-evident strategy remains the same.

Organisational behaviour is persistent , because it is rooted in the organisational culture. Below the surface the self-evident assumptions are steering the mission, vision, strategy and behaviour  of the employees much stronger than often thought of. Awareness of the organisational culture and its mindset prevents strategic drift and clarifies obstacles for change.

The Cultural Web is a powerful method to make an organisation aware of its culture, mindset and obstacles for change. It is a participative method, preferably used with as many employees as possible. In this way as broad a support for change is created. The method reveals what is self-evident in the organization and how this affects the results in the end. It provides with tangible tools for structural sustainable change.

Pim Stafleu ORGANISATION SUPPORT has gained a lot of expertise and experience in working with The Cultural Web.

If you want to know more about the possibilities and benefits of organisational culture analysis and change, please go to the contact page.