In the literature, we can find different kinds of frameworks, some of them are complex, but many others are practical to apply in our daily challenges. In general, they are useful tools to help us to organize thoughts and understand contexts. In this post, I invite you to reflect on the Cultural Web.
“Culture is to an organization what soul is to a person” Henry Mintzberg
“Culture is to organization as character is to the individual. That is, organizations don’t have cultures; rather they are cultures.” David K. Hurst
Organizational cultures are usually related to individual character and soul. As I was reflecting on the application of the Cultural Web, I thought that I could try a different application for this framework.
The Cultural Web was designed to map organizational cultures. In my reflections, however, I thought why not to focus on my life stories, routines, and symbols to see how they mirror my personal values?
It was an interesting exercise, and I can tell you that I got valuable insights. So, I will share briefly about the framework, and you can think about your own application to use the Cultural Web as well.
Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes developed the Cultural Web. It is a comprehensive tool that allows us to identify the necessary changes in attitudes and behaviors required to change organizational culture and achieve a new organizational goal.
In my reflection exercise, I decided to work in 3 steps: the upper topics of the framework, the lower topics of the framework and The paradigm.
The reflection on the upper topics of the framework is the easiest. If you think about an organization, remembering stories is easy, as well as to identify rituals and routines, and correlate them with symbols that represent an organization.
The reflection on the lower part of the framework is a bit more analytical. The power structures in an organization are related to the people that can make things happen or the opposite. To the purpose of my exercise, I did a small change in the interpretation of this topic, so I reflected on the people that have a powerful influence on my life decisions.
Organizational structures are the formal structures or hierarchy in a company. For my exercise, I thought about the life structure required to keep quality of life and lifestyle.
Control Systems are different systems that regulate an Organization like financial, quality and many other kinds of controls. In the adjustments for my exercise, I thought about personal disciplines and tools that help me with the management of my personal projects.
The last reflection is the most interesting of all. Thinking about stories, routines, symbols, people, structure and control systems we can synthesize all the points and visualize The paradigm.
The Cultural Web is a powerful tool to understand the culture of an organization, but it can be an interesting tool to help us to figure out how our practices and daily decisions match with our personal values.
“…to live in the 21st century will require a new kind of human being, one that is more conscious of self, more social, more culturally wise, and more innovative in taking action.” Edgar H. Schein
The knowledge about our social environments and ourselves is pivotal to allow us to interact better in our communities and be functional in different work settings.
From Henry Mintzberg “Managing the Myths of Health Care” Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc (2017), ISBN 9781626569058 pg. 188
Hurst, David K., 2012, The New Ecology of Leadership: Business Mastery in a Chaotic World, ISBN 978-0-231-15970-8, Columbia University Press
Schein, Edgar H, 2013, Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling. ISBN978-1-60994-981-5. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Systems Leadership Steering Group, 2015, The Art of Change Making, ISBN 978-0-9931400-9-9, The Leadership Centre