OK, here is where we really get into the meat of what may or may not be preventing you from becoming a high performing organization: culture.

An organization’s culture is the fundamental bedrock upon which the organization creates and executes its processes and procedures. Like a child there is always the debate as to whether or not that culture is as a result of the type of organization (nature) or whether the culture is shaped by the people (nurture).

But whether or not you believe in nature or nurture, Ron Westrum (sociologist) says that you can measure the culture and determine how it will act and react.

Ron Westrum has been proposing for years that there are three distinct type of organizational cultures:

Pathological . We’ve all seen or experienced these types of organizations. The place where fear rules and to get anything done threats are common place. No, this is not Game of Thrones, it’s real life. Fear is rampant through the organizations and the only reason people share information is to make someone else look bad or make them look good

. We’ve all seen or experienced these types of organizations. The place where fear rules and to get anything done threats are common place. No, this is not Game of Thrones, it’s real life. Fear is rampant through the organizations and the only reason people share information is to make someone else look bad or make them look good Bureaucratic . This is what people consider governments to be – bureaucratic – but that definition is not restricted to governments. The key thing about a bureaucratic organization is that people tend to maintain their own hierarchy. Things have grown a bit in that instead of a single individual trying to achieve their pinnacle of success, the idea is for the department/division/branch to be successful, to be seen as contributing to the whole.

. This is what people consider governments to be – bureaucratic – but that definition is not restricted to governments. The key thing about a bureaucratic organization is that people tend to maintain their own hierarchy. Things have grown a bit in that instead of a single individual trying to achieve their pinnacle of success, the idea is for the department/division/branch to be successful, to be seen as contributing to the whole. Generative. This is where many Internet start ups are focused. The focus of the individuals and the company is not on themselves, but on the purpose of the organization. “We want to be the best at <insert item here>“. And everything the company does is focused on that one line.

But where do you stand? What about the organization that you belong to? Where does it fall in the spectrum, and it is indeed a spectrum, from completely self-centered to altruistic?

At a high level, here are some attributes of each type of organization.

Pathological

Power-oriented Bureaucratic

Rule-oriented Generative

Performance-oriented Low co-operation Modest co-operation High co-operation Messengers shot Messengers neglected Messengers trained Responsibilities shirked Narrow responsibilities Risks are shared Bridging discouraged Bridging tolerated Bridging encouraged Failure leads to scapegoating Failure leads to justice Failure leads to inquiry Novelty crushed Novelty leads to problems Novelty implemented

I would tell you where I place my current organization but I will have both sides of the fence arguing with me as to the validity of my position.

With the proper survey and a sufficiently large enough number of respondents, you can determine where on the Westrum spectrum of organizational culture you exist. It may be as simple as asking a question about each of the items above, using a scale from 1 – 7 (strongly disagree to strongly agree) and work out where you fall.

It must be understood, however, that not all governments are bureaucratic. Not all startups are generative. Bureaucracy in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Even being pathological can have its advantages depending upon the circumstances and where that culture exists. A single organization may have multiple cultures depending upon the department, the level within the organization or other factors.

So where does that leave us? If we think of Pathological as having a low score and Generative as a high score, the Westrum model has a couple of predictions:

The higher the score the more trust there is in the organization and therefore a higher level of collaboration Because there is more trust there is likely to be better information sharing and as a result, better decisions being made

As you achieve higher scores on the spectrum you are more likely going to see better overall organizational performance.

But wait, there’s more.

Some of the things that we have talked about have a positive impact on the organizational culture. Lean Management and Continuous Delivery, those over arching topics which include many of the things that have been discussed in the past couple of weeks, have a positive impact on culture. Even if you have a Pathological culture, implementing things like automated release management force there to be a higher level of trust in the organization, incrementally increasing our score. By adding in the other items that we’ve talked about the culture can be improved.

And if you have a good culture, then it is even easier to implement the capabilities that we’ve discussed for the past few weeks.

Culture is important, but it is not static, it can be changed. It requires but a snowflake to start the avalanche. Will you be that snowflake?