On Creating Culture

30 Jun On Creating Culture

As an Organizational Leadership Consultant, I assess the culture of organizations and one of the questions posed by leaders is the desire to create the culture of their “existing” organization. So therein lies the dilemma many organizations face, it is almost impossible to create an existing culture because once an organization is in existence the culture is already created. We can modify, tweak, improve, redesign, assess and improve culture but you must know the realities first.

The opportunities that exist include culture modification, improvement, and redesign but to be effective it must be done with a complete cultural analysis. The realities must first be understood. According to Prof. Schein, noted Culture Expert, “First, unless you are an entrepreneur founding a new enterprise you cannot “create” a culture. Culture is what a group or organization has learned over its lifetime. If you are a leader of an established organization you already have a culture. In fact, if you have been around for a while, you are so embedded in your culture that you are not aware of how much it determines your daily behavior.”