Good post and there’s much to agree with – except..

The culture is there, and is seen, heard and felt by all those who work there. It can be stunningly obvious when ‘visiting’ from the outside or when you’ve just joined the organisation (although it fades over time as you ‘get used’ to it).

To those who work there, it’s a fact of life but I think you’re avoiding saying what it is – it’s the rules governing behaviour!.

It’s what you’re allowed to say and do and more importantly challenge. It’s the expectations that everyone treats as the ‘rules’. It’s a reflection of the quality of leadership and management from those ‘above’. ‘Culture’ comes from the top, not the middle or the bottom -and you don’t need a survey to measure it!

The quickest way is to ask some middle managers to write down (anonymously) what it takes to succeed and also to fail in this organisation – and then analyse the result in terms of what’s common across all areas – and what’s specific to each division/dept etc.

If the organisation doesn’t like the message then it can be fed into Leadership & Executive Coaching for the senior levels in the organisation.

Just a thought…

Good post and there’s much to agree with – except..

The culture is there, and is seen, heard and felt by all those who work there. It can be stunningly obvious when ‘visiting’ from the outside or when you’ve just joined the organisation (although it fades over time as you ‘get used’ to it).

To those who work there, it’s a fact of life but I think you’re avoiding saying what it is – it’s the rules governing behaviour!.

It’s what you’re allowed to say and do and more importantly challenge. It’s the expectations that everyone treats as the ‘rules’. It’s a reflection of the quality of leadership and management from those ‘above’. ‘Culture’ comes from the top, not the middle or the bottom -and you don’t need a survey to measure it!

The quickest way is to ask some middle managers to write down (anonymously) what it takes to succeed and also to fail in this organisation – and then analyse the result in terms of what’s common across all areas – and what’s specific to each division/dept etc.

If the organisation doesn’t like the message then it can be fed into Leadership & Executive Coaching for the senior levels in the organisation.

Just a thought…