Changing and measuring organizational culture

Management and executives are often confronted with the question: "Can you orchestrate a strategy process?" The reflexive answer is often stereotypically: "Yes!" But this "yes" is not without its pitfalls. It implies the ability to initiate and implement a strategy process and conclude it with an impressive presentation. What this "yes" does not include, however, is the ability to develop a strategy in such a way that it actually has an impact. The more energy invested in working on the corporate culture, the brighter the strategy shines.

This "yes" is only resilient if you already have sound experience in cultural work. It is important to work on the corporate culture first and only then on the strategy. In the course of the process, those involved often realize that it makes little sense to develop interchangeable strategy papers if the culture of the company is not sufficiently known. In an information society in which circumstances change rapidly, strategy processes often become obsolete after a short time. The approach of analysing the thinking and decision-making patterns as well as the culture of an organization and its members and developing a strategy on this basis, taking into account the market and customers, leads to better results.

Corporate culture encompasses the shared values, norms, beliefs and behaviors that shape a company's identity and way of working. It is the "lifeblood" of a company, influencing how employees interact with each other and how they perceive their work. A strong corporate culture promotes cohesion, commitment and innovation. A weak or negative culture, on the other hand, can lead to conflict, dissatisfaction and low productivity.

Denkwerkstatt has always been influenced by the science of psychology. In our cultural work, we use the models of three important psychologists:

• Kurt Lewin: His stage theory for cultural change projects structures our work. Lewin's "Unfreeze - Move - Freeze" model is simple and practical. It provides clients and project managers with a clear orientation as to which phase the project is in and which measures need to be taken.
• Edgar H. Schein: As a formative cultural scientist in the USA, we primarily use his three-level model, which describes the depth of change in organizations: Artifacts, Values and Basic Assumptions.
• Claire Graves: We use his five-level scale on the cultural maturity of organizations in semi-structured interviews in order to gain a differentiated picture of the corporate culture.

Our instrument for measuring organizational cultures is the Lateral Culture Index (LCI). The LCI was developed and scientifically validated by Denkwerkstatt in 2015. It measures leadership behavior in companies, which is an essential component of cultural analysis.

The way in which organizations are managed, what basic assumptions people in an organization have about working together internally, with customers and the market in general, and what they see as the purpose of the organization, influences every action in connection with the strategic direction. The people of an organization are the carriers of the culture and the implementers of the strategy. Both aspects - culture and strategy - must be understood and made manageable in order to become sustainably significant through their implementation.