Do leadership, managers and employees act in ways that are consistent with and reflect the stated values, mission, and philosophy of the organization? Or do their decisions and behaviors communicate that something different is more important and expected?  If your organization is not living up to its values, then it is experiencing what is called a “culture disconnect”. This is a situation in which the day-to-day norms differ from or are out of alignment with the organization’s values.

​

Culture disconnects arise when the organization’s structures, systems, and technologies - as well as the skills and qualities of its leaders and managers - are not driven by, are inconsistent with, and/or run counter to its stated values. Under these circumstances, the climate of the organization - that is, members’ shared perceptions of their work environment - fails to communicate the importance, appropriateness, and efficacy of those values. Instead, members infer from the prevailing climate that they are expected or implicitly required to think and behave in ways that are markedly different than those described in the value statement on the corporate website, in the employee handbook, in annual reports, post on posters. Shared inferences and beliefs about expected behaviors are the norms that define an organization’s day-to-day operating culture.

​

In practice, the breakdowns between values and norms lead members to behave in less constructive and more passive/defensive or aggressive/defensive ways than desired. While these informal, unintended norms might seem to temporarily address an immediate problem or accomplish a specific goal, they are more generally and over the longer term intensify, lead to counterproductive consequences, and pull the organization and its members further away from the mission and vision.

​

Consequently, culture disconnects put organizations and their leaders, employee, members, clients, customers, suppliers, and shareholders in greater jeopardy the longer they persist.

​

Many leaders do not realize the extent to which culture disconnects pervade their organizations - which is one of the reasons why feedback on their operating cultures is so important. Just as critical, however, is that leaders understand how culture works so that they can address gaps and keep the organization connected to its purpose and values. That’s because the behavioral norms that evolve in organizations are predominately the product of members’ collective learning regarding what it takes to succeed - or to stay out of trouble and survive - in the system.

​

In deciding what behaviors are required, members may react cautiously or even skeptically to mission and value statements, change initiatives, and what leaders say they want. Instead, they infer what’s really expected based on the conditions and realities that they face daily.

These internal causal factors are the primary determinants of the operating culture of the organization regardless of whether they are consistent with the organization’s values and what leaders say is expected. Therefore, they potentially are also the most powerful levers available to leaders interested in redirecting cultural norms. Leaders at the top of the organization can make change to causal factors so that they are consistent with the ideal culture and, by doing so, make them levers for constructive culture change.

​

Leaders indirectly influence culture through their decisions about the organization’s mission, philosophy, values, goals, and strategies, as well as through the structures, systems, and technologies they put into place. This indirect influence is further magnified by the skills and qualities of the people that leaders choose to hire, fire, reward, and punish. Leaders directly influence culture through their interactions with others and through their own skills and qualities, including their personal styles, leadership strategies, and management approaches. Given leaders’ position and status, their behaviors set a standard and are often emulated by those whom they interact, regardless of whether their behaviors exemplify or run counter to the stated values or philosophy of the organization.

Their styles also can provoke unforeseen or dysfunctional reactions or counteractions in others. Moreover, their behaviors directly influence the operating culture by constraining or facilitating other members’ work activities and interactions. Research shown that leaders who use both direct and indirect levers have greatest impact on culture.

 

One of the biggest problems we face in organizational life is the tendency to unintentionally support and even reward, in multiple ways, passive/defensive and aggressive/defensive thinking and behavioral styles rather than those that are constructive. Consequently, if leaders keep in mind how culture really works and remain sensitive to the subtle effects of how they lead and the decisions they make, they can create a culture that supports rather than inadvertently detracts from theirs organization’s mission and vision.

 

Source: ‘Creating Constructive Cultures; Leading People and Organizations to Effectively Solve Problems and achieve Goals, by J. L. Szumal and R.A. Cooke.