Culture Schmulture

Beware of labels that let you off the hook

Some time ago, while giving a presentation titled “Organizational Obstacles to Lean,” I displayed a slide captioned “It’s not about culture.” My point was that “culture” is a bad analogy because it places the burden for change on the shoulders of employees rather than on management where it belongs.

Later I drew criticism from a fellow presenter, a manager from a well-known, leading-edge lean manufacturer. “I liked everything about your presentation except the part about culture,” he said after I finished. “If the culture in our company had not changed, we would never been able to sustain our gains.”

“It’s just the word,” I explained. “I think it’s often used to deflect responsibility away from bad management. I prefer the words “favorable environment” because they connote management responsibility.”

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Management is the key

Hi Bruce,

good point. I think "team culture" is just a lame excuse if the management culture is rotten. E.g., clinging to self sustaining hierarchies, or lack of empowerment.

Regards,

Jens

yes

I would say management owns the culture and is responsible for it. two observations:

- A red flag would be when top managers think they need to change the culture from the bottom up - they are probably missing their own contribution

- The bigger the company, the tighter the grip middle management has on the company culture and the bigger the job for top management and front ranks.