Today in my inbox (I like to keep abreast of what is happening in the Leadership space) I received a newsletter with the title ‘Why Culture fails before it even begins’

Culture is by nature a wicked problem, and is always there, it doesn’t just start, it can’t be ‘fixed’ or ‘controlled at best, it can be ‘tackled’, ‘shaped’ or ‘influenced’.  For example, if you were to start a business tomorrow, just you and the computer screen, there will be a culture in your business, bringing in everything you know, have done and experienced. How you progress from there will shape your Culture.

Culture exists, and it may not be the one you want, but it cannot fail.

The article continues with

‘Culture rarely fails because people don’t care. It fails much earlier, when leaders assume alignment instead of intentionally creating it.

• Unclear expectations.
• Inconsistent feedback.
• Unspoken rules everyone follows but no one names.’

While I get what the author is driving at, and expectations, feedback and rules are important, that is not the sum total of Culture.

When I talk to leaders about Culture in their organisation, rarely do we get beyond the Good/Bad dynamic.

This is because most organisations do not have a definition of Culture, which makes then nigh on impossible to express what their Culture is and maybe isn’t.

Social Psychology of Risk’s model of Culture

Understanding Culture requires a Transdisciplinary approach. This approach validates all ways of knowing, not just STEM knowing. A Transdisciplinary approach accommodates Semiotic and Poetical thinking. A Transdisciplinary approach allows for paradox and ambiguity to exist along with the wishes, desires and beliefs of STEM knowing.

So, faced with this challenge and search for a model and semiotic.  In SPoR, we think of culture using the metaphor and semiotic of a cloud. (Remember, all models are wrong, but some are useful). With these considerations in place we decided on the model of a cloud, to convey the wickedity of culture and risk.

Why a cloud? Clouds can buffeted by wind, they create turbulence, can be rapidly moving, can be curiously shaped, they can change your behaviour (think of storm clouds coming), they can pack a powerful punch (think of lightning). There are so many aspects of the cloud metaphor and semiotic that remind us of the way Culture and Risk work together.

Clouds can be easily seen, but cannot be ‘touched’. Clouds have their own trajectory and they remind us that the very air we breathe gives us life. The very water they rain down on us gives us life.

We have already made the point that Culture is a ‘wicked problem’ and is beyond propositional thinking. By using a metaphor of the Cloud, we allow the understanding of Culture to grow in relation to the person trying to understand the Cloud. Some think It may be the greatest metaphor of our time. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ archive/2011/09/clouds-the-most-useful-metaphor-of-all-time/245851/ The Culture Cloud represents one of the most significant semiotics in the SPoR.

Layers of Culture

The Layers of Culture model is influenced by Edgar Schein’s work. So, all that happens in the Culture Cloud is also replicated on various levels of culture. In this way we understand Culture as also a Semiosphere (Lotman). This Model also helps to highlight the Wickedity of Culture.

Macrocultures: These can be seen as National Cultures. For a further understanding look at the works of Hofstede and Hofstede https://www.hofstede-insights.com

Organisational Cultures: These can often conflict with a National Culture, and at no stage should an Organisation be allowed to trample National Culture (as stated by Hopkins).

Subcultures: These are sub-sets of culture, for example: Youth Culture, Pop Culture, drug Culture or Bikie Culture. These often have their own indicators of identity such as: haircut, style of dress, language, artefacts etc. These sub-cultures can also conflict with higher order layers of Culture.

Microcultures: All the Cultures cascade down and a Microculture may even be looked at as a small group, club, family or association.

These layers of Culture are a semiotic way of demonstrating the complexity of culture and yet also helps to make culture understandable. If we can deconstruct culture in this way, it can help us understand why each component part of culture fuses together with other parts and, why the omission of parts misdirects people into thinking that culture is just about behaviours or systems.

Once we understand the interconnectedness between all these elements, we gain greater insight into ways we may influence culture.

This understanding should help to better understand the ‘wicked’ nature of tackling risk and its cultural challenges.