The Danger of Working with Organizational Culture

In a recent blog, I wrote about culture and its impact on organizational effectiveness.  I’ve been working with a Diné (Navajo) agency that provides services to individuals with developmental disabilities.  On the surface, I was brought in to help them meet compliance standards required to maintain state funding – things like quality improvement, tracking, reporting, and policy development. 

What’s most powerful with this work — and most sustainable — is when the work goes beyond compliance and focuses on culture.  Working on culture gives the opportunity to look at how people work together, communicate and collaborate and has so much potential for fundamental change and growth.  

So, what’s the danger?  

Working with culture brings up a lot of fear.  It requires us to look at core beliefs about who we are and how we operate.  Not everyone wants to go there. This kind of work is challenging, uncomfortable and disruptive.  If pushed too hard, it can trigger resistance or complete disengagement.  

So I find myself asking: How hard I should push?   How can I encourage what I see as the real work?  What do I perceive to be the organization’s tolerance for working at core issues and for going deeper?  And, how are they vested in maintaining business-as-usual?  

The cards are still uncertain.  We are making steady progress towards essential compliance.  Whether we’ll take the more challenging steps to address the deeper cultural dynamics - the ones that will lead to essential and lasting change - remains to be seen.  

Time will tell.  For now, the real question is:  how hard do I push?