Ability to attract top talent | Accountability is enforced |
Ad-hoc processes | Agents of change are rewarded |
Agents of change are sidelined | Ample opportunities for advancement |
Attention to detail | Attention to health and safety |
Authoritarian culture - processes and rules used to create power | Big strategies without testing ideas first |
Blame culture | Boreout - employees are bored with work |
Bureaucracy and red tape | Burnout and stress |
Candor | Celebration of successes |
Civility | Clear communication |
Collectivist culture | Community involvement |
Competition is avoided | Competition is embraced |
Complaining culture | Compliance is achieved and expected |
Conflicts of interest | Constructive criticism |
Continuous improvement - often an excuse to move slowly | Corporate narcissism |
Creative tension - a health degree of disagreement and lively debate | Cronyism |
Customer detachment - employee disconnect with customer needs and context of use | Customer empathy - employees feel what the customer needs |
Customer is always right - employees take customers at their word | Customer satisfaction is prioritized |
Decision authority - clear authority and accountability for decisions | Decisions are made in the interests of customers |
Decisions are made in the interests of employees | Decisions are made in the interests of executives |
Decisions are made in the interests of investors | Decisions look at data |
Defeatism - a failure of duty due to the belief that strategy is doomed | Directionless and inefficient meetings and communications |
Disagree and commit - a time for input and a time to support decisions that are made | Diversity of perspectives - employees think in different ways and often disagree |
Embrace of reasonable change | Embrace of trends and change for the sake of change |
Empathy and compassion | Empire building - a lack of cooperation between teams |
Employee engagement | Employee ownership and responsibility |
Employee well-being is prioritized | Employees are hostile to management |
Employees are unaware of strategy | Employees believe the organization is good for people and planet |
Employees evaluated by perceived effort as opposed to results | Employees given enough authority and resources to achieve their goals |
Employees not monitored much and are evaluated according to performance alone | Employees think strategy is flawed |
Entrepreneurial spirit | Ethical behavior |
Excessive middle management | Excessive teamwork - over-socialization of processes, work and decisions |
Excuse making | Failure fatigue - employees expect projects to fail |
Failure is ignored | Failure is recognized and accepted with a process of learning and recovery |
Failure is recognized and punished | Fair performance reviews |
Fear of criticism - employees hold back on creative ideas | Flat organizational structure |
Flexible work arrangements | Frequent negative feedback from customers |
Goal setting and clear priorities | Grit and resilience |
Group harmony - employees avoid conflict such as pushing for creative ideas | Health and safety is prioritized |
Heavy monitoring of employees | High expectations for performance |
High staff turnover | High stress levels |
Honor culture - employees try to avoid showing weakness | Idealistic culture |
Inadequate compensation | Inadequate resources |
Inadequate training and support | Incentives for performance |
Incentivization of least effort and least risk | Incentivization of risk-taking |
Inclusiveness | Individualistic culture |
Initiative gets respect | Intellectual bravery - employees will offer creative ideas |
Intensity of office politics | Interdepartmental cooperation thrives |
Lack of honesty | Lack of organizational confidence |
Lack of organizational mission, purpose and vision | Limited opportunities for career growth |
Listening habits | Long hours expected |
Long-term is prioritized | Low performance is managed |
Low throughput | Management hostile to employees |
Management is aloof | Management is hands-on |
Mature processes and internal controls | Mature processes that are also flexible |
Micromanagement | Mismanagement |
Mutual respect | Negative office politics |
Neglect of employee well-being | One-upmanship |
Overcommunication | Passive aggressive behaviors |
Pessimistic culture | Peter principle - employees are promoted until they a level where they are less than competent |
Poor communication | Poor customer service |
Poor leadership | Poor supervision |
Poor work-life balance | Poor working conditions |
Poorly defined roles and responsibilities | Pragmatic culture |
Prioritization of individual productivity | Problems are ignored |
Problems are only solved when they directly impact revenue | Problems are solved |
Professionalism | Prototyping and experiments are common |
Quality is prioritized | Raising the bar - leading an industry as opposed to following |
Regular feedback | Remaining reachable on holidays is expected |
Resistance to change | Respect for individual differences |
Respect for the customer | Revenue is prioritized |
Rewards and recognition tied to actual value creation | Risks are managed |
Secrecy | Sense of entitlement |
Sense of purpose | Social detachment - employees distrust each other and don't form friendships |
Social interaction - employees have friends at work | Support for risk-taking |
Teamwork | Think big culture |
Time habits | Time-to-market is prioritized |
Timely and reasonable decision making | Toxic positivity |
Transparency | Trust |
Unclear assumptions, expectations, goals and objectives | Unfair promotion practices |
Unfriendly and unsupportive environment | Work ethic |
Overview
Organizational culture are the human elements of an organization that emerge with a process of shared experience over time. These are intangible things such as attitudes and expectations that can be used to explain vast differences in organizational capabilities in areas such as creativity, risk taking and quality.
Summary
Organizational culture are intangible realities that shape the performance and working life of an organization beyond officially documented processes and policies. These are shaped by both management and employees over time.
