Chapter-6B.pdf

Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation © Patrick Dawson and Constantine Andriopoulos  Chapter 6 B Human dimensions: Readiness, communication, sensemaking and culture Culture Roots in anthropology and sociology In organizations, Jaques (1951: 251) refers to culture of the fact...

Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation © Patrick Dawson and Constantine Andriopoulos  Chapter 6 B Human dimensions: Readiness, communication, sensemaking and culture Culture Roots in anthropology and sociology In organizations, Jaques (1951: 251) refers to culture of the factory as: ‘its customary and traditional way of thinking and doing things, which is shared to a greater or lesser degree by all its members, and which new members must learn, and at least partially accept, in order to be accepted into service in the firm.’ 3 A culture provides... …group members with a way of giving meaning to their daily lives, setting guidelines and rules for how to behave, and most important reducing and containing the anxiety of dealing with an unpredictable and uncertain environment. Culture stabilises and normalises events and thus makes day-to-day functioning possible. (Schein quoted in Andriopoulos and Dawson, 2009: 255) 4 What we do around here Culture is what we do around here; it is learnt through formal and informal processes (socialisation). Within organisations there may be a kind of umbrella culture – corporate culture. Sub-cultures exist often among different groups and levels of an organization. Professional cultures may also occur in which individuals and groups refer to external norms and values. 5 Edgar Schein Schein (1984: 3) views culture as something an organization ‘is’ and defines culture as: ‘the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration and that have worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems’. 6 Schein’s 3 Levels (2010: 24) Artefacts – Visible and feelable structures and processes – Observed behaviour (difficult to decipher) Espoused Beliefs and Values – Ideas, goals, values, aspirations – Ideologies, rationalisations Basic Underlying Assumptions – Unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs and values (determine behaviour, perception, thought and feeling) 7 Four dominant characteristics 1. culture is a shared phenomenon. 2. culture exists at two levels, namely, the surface (visible) level and deeper (less visible) level; ‘espoused values’ and ‘values-in-use’. 3. culture is learned. 4. Culture is generally stable but not static as it changes slowly over time. 8 Surface level elements (observable) physical layout – open plan versus a more formal allocation of space reflecting status differentials organisational structure – the way the work is organised regular patterns of behaviour – e.g. attendance at meetings, ‘clocking on’, activities during break time or after work dress codes mission statements (Australian Post’s ‘we deliver’ slogan) 9 Deeper level (unobservable) Beliefs and assumptions shared by the members of a given group/organisation Evolves in response to the group’s attempts to make sense of, and order, its common experiences Beliefs often take-for-granted/unconsciously held (idea is that certain behaviours become habitual through repetition, e.g. your assumptions about university lecturers may have become so taken-for-granted that you no longer think about why you respond in the way that you do) Cultural beliefs evolve over time (history and context) 10 Power of culture Culture is transmitted to new members of a group through a process of socialisation (e.g. new members take on certain cultural beliefs on the basis of what they hear from other rather than having actual experience). Cultural beliefs and assumptions exert a powerful influence on the behaviour of organisation members. 11 Why an important determinant of creativity and innovation? The components of organisational culture (shared values, beliefs and behavioural norms) are key in promoting the generation and implementation of novel and useful ideas. Through formal and informal socialisation processes, employees gradually learn which behaviours are acceptable. Innovative companies, therefore, tend to have cultures, which emphasise and reward values and norms that support the generation and implementation of new ideas. 12 Can strong cultures hinder innovation? At first glance, strong cultures that demand employees to conform to and continuously follow established norms would seem to be an anathema to creative employees. Many innovative companies are known for their strong, cohesive cultures (3M, Apple, etc.) – Strong cultures may therefore promote conformity but not uniformity (Nemeth and Staw, 1989). – It depends on the nature of the behavioural norms that prevail within the organisation. – Social cohesion is necessary in order to implement creative ideas and to translate creativity into innovation (Caldwell and O’Reilly, 1995). 13 In short… Strong cultures are not necessarily conducive to generating and implementing ideas in organisations per se; rather, what are required are strong cultures that foster innovation- enhancing norms and at the same time promote the social cohesion necessary for turning ideas into product innovations. 14 Disagreements on culture Culture as a variable – something an organisation possesses – organizations can be moulded/managed Culture as a root metaphor – something that an organisation is – i.e. not manageable 15 Organisational culture and subcultures Primary (dominant) culture plus unique sub-cultures: – enhancing subculture - adheres to dominant organisational culture – orthogonal subculture - accepts dominant culture but has own set of beliefs and values – dissenting subculture - holds an alternative pattern of shared values and practices – counterculture - conflict and direct challenge to core values and beliefs 16 Culture, stability and change Work experience is made sense of and given meaning through culture (rules of how to behave, understanding of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ – e.g. notion of misbehaviour may vary between groups). Culture provides a sense of stability, helps us deals with uncertainty and can reduce anxiety. Stability often renders culture slow to change. 17 Schein’s reflections on culture and leadership Schein (1985) seek a redefinition of leadership and suggests that: …there is a possibility ‒ underemphasized in leadership research ‒ that the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture and that the unique talent of leaders is their ability to work with culture (Schein, 1985: 2). 18 Key elements of culture change Articulating a vision – develop them (or mission statement) to capture the essence of what the change programme is about Secure top management support for change Secure union support and involvement Conduct pre-programme surveys – surveys of both organisation members and clients to establish the perceptions of the organisation and what it values 19 Key elements of culture change Use of external change agents Identification of change leaders (i.e. organisation members committed to the change and capable of facilitating it) Extensive training A change in material symbols – e.g. company logo, dress codes, etc. A change in the organisation’s operating reward system – e.g. the introduction of profit sharing schemes Source: E. Kummerow Organisational Culture (PhD, 2000) 20 Traps: Management as the architects of cultural change 1. Simplification: collapse of locally grounded cultures into corporate cultural change 2. Symbolic anorexia: little reference to local experiences and symbols during change 3. Ignorance of meanings: assume agreement on what values mean in practice (undifferentiated) 4. Denial of ignorance: failure to see things as are in post- hoc rationalizations of ‘success’ (Adapted from Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2016: 177-180) 21 Theme Practical lessons for Managing Cultural Change Framing context Transitional change is not something done by senior managers to others as everyone needs to be involved in considering ideas, values and meanings. Engage with existing culture in working with achievable aims not fantasy (big-gap) futures. Meaningful change takes time and cannot be achieved quickly. Organizing Need to break down divisions in workplace values and meanings and work towards great integration and shared sense work(ers) making. Clarify identities and role expectations. Try to establish a general collective view on what change is about and revise change image when change itself changes. People managing change need to be seen as part of the change collective and not as outsiders. Content Forward content that stimulates debate and avoid the self-evidently good, such as, respect for people. It is meanings and not values that should be the main focus as values can mean a lot of different things to different people. Tactics In maintaining the drive for change ensure involvement in open dialogue supporting processes of sense making and sense giving. Cultural change requires engaging people in both the rational (reasoning) and symbolic (emotional) aspects of change. Process Cultural change needs to connect with local context and the lived experiences of people at their sites of work. Be aware and respond to the way changes are interpreted by employees and revise tactics to accommodate contextual learning. Cultural change does not have a single end point but is ongoing and therefore requires continuous attention. Finale There is a need for critical reflection and to question the myth that change is necessarily a good thing. 22 Lessons on culture and change 1. Try to determine the organisation’s culture compatibility with the proposed change. 2. Don’t underestimate the strength of the old culture. 3. Pilot change to gauge employee responsiveness. 4. Change must be seen to be motivated by a concern for people and not just profits. 5. Management must consistently behave in a way which clearly demonstrates their genuine commitment. 6. Allow sufficient time for the change to be realised. 7. Ensure that the method of culture change is seen as credible by participants in the change process. Source: E. Kummerow Organisational Culture (PhD, 2000) 23 Sensemaking and the narrative turn Growing movement towards an interest in meaning making and the way individuals make and give sense to change over time Post-modernism and links with a narrative turn in the social sciences Incorporated into change management approaches by writers, such as, Alvesson and Sveningsson (2008, 2016), Dawson (2003a, 2003b, 2012), Jabri (2012, 2016) Reissner (2005, 2013) 24 Sensemaking Process of sensemaking is dynamic and ongoing and as we make sense we also seek to shape this process and influence others. Making sense of things after they have happened is common (through retrospection) but also prospective. The search in sensemaking is not for accuracy but for plausibility. 25 Collective sense-making ‘Sensemaking is about authoring as well as interpretation, creation as well as discovery.’ (Weick, 1995: 8) ‘Sense may be in the eye of the beholder, but beholders vote and the majority rules.’ (Weick,1995: 7) Through interaction (social activity) people create and redefine events through storytelling that helps them makes sense of experiences (what Weick, 1995 calls enactment of the environments faced). 26 Seven characteristics 1. Grounded in identity construction 2. Retrospective 3. Enactive of sensible environments 4. Social 5. Ongoing 6. Focused on and by extracted cues 7. Driven by plausibility rather than accuracy (Weick, 1995:17) 27 Sensemaking Who people think they are in given contexts influences how they behave and interpret situations (identity). Making sense of things after they have happened is common (through retrospection). Through interaction (social activity) people create and redefine events through storytelling that helps them makes sense of experiences (what Weick, 1995 calls enactment of the environments faced). 28 Sensemaking Process of sensemaking is dynamic and ongoing and as we make sense we also seek to shape this process and influence others. There is a tendency to create reference points (extract cues), which help us draw links and make sense of experiences. The search in sensemaking is not for accuracy but for plausibility. 29