![\"The](\"http:\/\/nmsconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/cultural-web-3.png\" "\\"The")
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In a battle between an organization\u2019s strategy and the organization\u2019s culture, culture usually wins.<\/em><\/span><\/p> \u00a0<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \u201cOh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive\u201d. The quote is from a poem by Sir Walter Scott written in 1808. It means that when you act dishonestly you are initiating problems, and a domino structure of complications, which will eventually run out of control.<\/span><\/p> While the poem talks about acting dishonestly, in my scenario I don\u2019t mean to imply that the organization is dishonest or lying per se. At least not on purpose. But organizations have a de-facto \u201cculture\u201d comprised of many elements.<\/span><\/p> Consider now your organization\u2019s strategy. Is it aligned with the actual strategic intent and values of the organization? Is it being implemented as expected? If not, what is hindering the organization from truly executing its strategy.<\/span><\/p> In their book Exploring Strategy, authors Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes introduce the Cultural Web (see Figure 1). In this web they identify six interrelated elements that help define the \u201cparadigm\u201d or the model of the work environment.<\/span><\/p> The 6 key elements are:<\/span><\/p> 1. Stories<\/span><\/strong> The paradigm is at the center of these six elements, and it refers to the \u201ctaken-for-granted\u201d assumptions and beliefs we have about an organization. According to Johnson and Scholes, the Cultural Web \u201cshows the behavioral, physical, and symbolic manifestations of a culture.\u201d Do we truly know and understand the six elements, or are we \u201cdeceiving\u201d ourselves?<\/span><\/p> You may have heard the expression \u201cCulture eats strategy for breakfast.\u201d This famous quotation is often attributed to business management guru Peter Drucker. What does this actually mean? In essence it means that culture can constrain strategy. In a battle between an organization\u2019s strategy and the organization\u2019s culture, culture usually wins. In fact, culture determines and limits strategy. Therefore, if the culture is not aligned with the strategy, the strategy is at risk.<\/span><\/p> Culture becomes increasingly important during organizational change, digital transformation, or organizational growth. There have been countless times when engaging with a client on strategy development or implementation, where the client has told me \u201cthis is the way we do things around here\u201d or \u201cthat is our culture.\u201d What does that mean? Is it ok to accept the status quo because that\u2019s the way it has always been done?<\/span><\/p> We can use the Cultural Web to analyze the culture of an organization. The details on each element are as follows:<\/span><\/p> The Cultural Web \u2013 Stories<\/span><\/strong> The Cultural Web \u2013 Rituals and Routines<\/span><\/strong> The Cultural Web \u2013 Symbols<\/span><\/strong> The Cultural Web \u2013 Organizational Structures<\/span><\/strong> The Cultural Web \u2013 Control Systems<\/span><\/strong> The Cultural Web \u2013 Power Structures<\/span><\/strong> As with most transformation efforts, we can begin using the Cultural Web. We can use it to shift the success of strategy, by assessing the current state of culture, determining the desired state, and identifying the differences between the two. Once these differences have been identified, we can develop a plan for the changes needed to create the culture we want.<\/span><\/p> Bottom Line<\/span><\/strong> Implementing cultural changes is not going to be easy. It involves reframing values, beliefs and behaviors. Johnson and Scholes\u2019 Cultural Web provides a good foundation for the difficult business of changing organizational culture. Using it, you can create a cultural environment that encourages success, and supports the organization\u2019s objectives and values.<\/span><\/p> To read the original publication of this article on the EAPJ website, please click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p> About the Author:<\/span><\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mark Edmead<\/a> is a transformation consultant and trainer with over 30 years of experience. A major component of many of his projects and teaching engagements involve addressing cultural transformation. Over the past few years, Mark has been facilitating Agile and DevOps workshops. One of the largest projects was for a major worldwide mobile communication company. He also has published an article on addressing corporate culture which can be read\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p> Mark has also provided IT transformation and business improvement services that align information technology with business goals to drive bottom-line performance and growth.\u00a0Mark\u2019s focus is on change management, process improvement, enterprise architecture, technology road mapping, strategic IT planning, IT organization analysis, IT portfolio management and IT governance. Prominent firms Mark has worked for include Ernst & Young and IBM.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a battle between an organization\u2019s strategy and the organization\u2019s culture, culture usually wins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1],"tags":[242,293,280,294,292,76],"class_list":["post-7949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-nms","tag-consulting","tag-cultural-web","tag-culture","tag-it-transformation","tag-organizational-structure","tag-tr","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n
2. Rituals and Routines<\/span><\/strong>
3. Symbols<\/span><\/strong>
4. Organizational Structure<\/span><\/strong>
5. Control Systems<\/span><\/strong>
6. Power Structures<\/span><\/strong><\/p>
\u201cStories\u201d refers to what people talk about both inside and outside the company. The stories can be positive or negative. These stories represent the actual or perceived idea about the organization. For instance, when applying for a new position, don\u2019t we want to know what people are saying about a company or a department? Internally someone might say \u201cyou don\u2019t want to work here \u2013 they work you to exhaustion,\u201d or \u201cthis is an amazing place to work.\u201d Let\u2019s put this in terms of strategy implementation. What if the story is \u201cthey have tried changing the strategy before and it failed miserably.\u201d If this is the story going around the company, what would the success be for the implementation of yet another new strategy?<\/span><\/p>
\u201cRituals and Routines\u201d refers to the daily activities and behaviors. Are the rituals acceptable? Do they reinforce or contradict the desired culture? For instance, a company is wanting to embrace the Scrum framework. Scrum contains many \u201crituals\u201d such as daily stand-ups and retrospectives. If the company does not perform these rituals, they are most likely not embracing the true spirit of Scrum.<\/span><\/p>
\u201cSymbols\u201d refers to the visual representation of the organization including logos, titles, dress codes, or office layout. Say you want to implement a culture where everyone\u2019s status is valued equally. Is that what you\u2019re really saying if you have private offices for some (the proverbial corner office).<\/span><\/p>
\u201cOrganizational Structures\u201d reflects the structure defined by the organization chart as well as the unwritten lines of power and influence. Does your organizational structure promote high collaboration between everyone, or does it promote a more formal hierarchy with a few people at the top and the rest of the workers taking orders? Or perhaps the organizational structure promotes a siloed vs. collaborative working environment?<\/span><\/p>
\u201cControl Systems\u201d refers to the ways the organization is controlled. This reflects what is important to the organization. Is it profits above everything else (at the expense of quality for instance)? Does the company control employee performance using bonuses that can promote internal competition rather than teamwork?<\/span><\/p>
\u201cPower Structures\u201d highlights the real power within the organization. Does one person, group, or department have the greatest amount of influence on how decisions are made? How about the strategic direction? I\u2019ve experienced this quite a bit where the business side of the organization makes the strategy decisions without involving, for instance, the IT department. This also means the business makes decisions about IT solutions. The IT department is then relegated to an \u201corder taker\u201d role and does not participate in the setting of strategic direction.<\/span><\/p>
You can use Johnson and Scholes\u2019 Cultural Web to analyze your current culture. It can help you to ask powerful questions to identify what the future culture should be, and identify what needs to stay, go or be added to. With these answers, you increase your chances to achieve your strategic goals.<\/span><\/p>![\"The](\"http:\/\/nmsconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-pic-new.png\" "\\"The")
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