Organizations, like people, have distinctive temperaments (or personalities). The organization’s ‘culture’ emerges from the accumulation of events and actions much as temperament follows from an individual’s life experiences. Those organizations which provide similar products and/or services will share much in common, yet are most easily recognizable by their differences.

Organizations, like people, change over time also, but slowly and without submitting readily to specific, deliberate pressures no matter how intense. The function of culture is to stabilize and generalize behaviors, so it’s no surprise that it resists deliberate change. If you consider your own experience you’ll recognize that the organizations you’ve known differ in five distinctive ways:

• How energies are focused
• How information is gathered and processed
• How priorities are defined
• How decisions are made and implemented
• How ‘real work’ is structured and shared.

These factors, in turn, lead to the recognizable characteristics of the organization – its features. They include the Corporate Identity which is embodied in the Vision, Mission, and Values statements, also in the current Strategic Objectives and Critical Success Factors. They are reflected too in those things we consider important enough to monitor and measure. Another obvious expression is in the essence of our operating style, the practical application of our intentions – what really works / happens in this place.

Work Practices emerge in turn, from these strategic ‘positions’ and ‘values’. The way we do things around here is a primary lesson for all newcomers to master, and you cannot or may not contribute unless you have acknowledged this.

It all connects, interacts and impacts because of communications – the substantial content, structure, flow control, currency and formal/informal value of relevant information. The organization is best recognized by these unique features.

It’s never static, this organizational culture. It must flow and adapt as the business responds to the demands of changing markets. The culture must learn from the past, read and respond to the present, and predict and prepare for the future.

Discover and learn more about the process, j ust take and apply the basic Learning Model to your circumstances. We have no choice. We must be a Learning Organization. Should we fail, we will perish.