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CULTURE IS A MYTH Created by

Al Gates

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“Company Culture is the term given to the shared values and practices of the employees. Note that the actual culture may not match the published culture”.
F. John Reh

Hey, that makes sense.

So we are back to people again, specifically, employees.

It is easier to write about a nebulous company than it is to write about real people in a company. Management theorists have set up an illusion worthy of any magician, i.e., that an organization is a living entity while in reality it is only pieces of legal paper. People are the reality. Wow, what a trick.

Let us take the statement, “Company X had an outstanding performance in 2004.” In reality, it was the people who were outstanding. In all likelihood, an analysis would often show it had little to do with the CEO or President, as they are just figureheads who are easy to identify and write about in the ‘company’. Of course, there are always exceptions, e.g., Virgin Airways.

However, it is always the people below these figureheads who actually ‘execute’, who ‘do’, who ‘perform’, who get ‘results’. Not the company per se.

This illusion has and is continuing to create all kinds of problems. It also is creating many books on how to manage the ‘company’. This in turn is creating management gurus who show you how to implement the theories in the ‘book’. It is a weird circle. I am surprised that Tom Peters, the In-Your-Face-Management Guru, has not caught on to this illusion and written a book about this. Of course, he would have to believe it is an illusion. On the other hand, is he part of the ‘illusion’? Hey, just asking. I like Tom. He makes me think.

What is your company culture like? Are you going to ask the President? I am sure a lot of them would have an answer for you, but will it be accurate? And would you agree with it?

Is ‘corporate culture’ only as complicated and, at the same time, as simple as the President/CEO and his ‘vision’ of how people should be treated?
Or is it so fragile that it can be changed with the introduction of a new company policy on overtime pay? Is it having people with the same mind-set?

As a manager, you influence the culture in your department, your team or unit in a variety of different ways. The primary way, of course, is by your behaviour. And your behaviour is demonstrated by the choices you make; what I call ‘choice-making behaviour’. Your choices are tied in to your
personal beliefs, values and the assumptions you have made about a situation.

So, if you accept the definition of company culture offered at the beginning of this subject, and you want to change the culture of your company, do you change processes, systems, or people?

You have three guesses.

From the book: "Managers - Don't Read This!" by Al Gates

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