Episode 3: How to Manage the Tricky World of Subcultures
Every organization has its subcultures. How do you know when they’re a problem? In episode #3 of The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer, hosts Jennifer Chatman and Sameer Srivastava answer a question from Yogaraj (Yogs) Jayaprakasam and offer a surprising take on the value of subcultures.
Jenny & Sameer’s 3 Main Takeaways:
- Awareness – know what subcultures exist within the organization and anticipate the possibility that they conflict in dysfunctional ways.
- Agility – be willing to try out different cultural priorities. Before deciding that the counterculture is necessarily problematic you should look at what it is solving for.
- Alignment – prioritize one cultural norm that applies to all units and unifies the organization rather than trying to be perfectly aligned on everything.
Show Links:
- The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations [Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization]
- Maersk: Driving Culture Change at a Century-Old Company to Achieve Measurable Results [Berkeley Haas Case Series]
- Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach [Journal of Management Studies]
- A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundaries [Sociological Methods & Research]
- The Lasting Leadership Lessons From The Challenger Disaster [Forbes]
- 5 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Organisation [Salesforce Blog]
Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”
You can learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at https://haas.berkeley.edu/culture/culture-kit-podcast/.
*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Jenny & Sameer’s 3 Main Takeaways:
- Awareness – know what subcultures exist within the organization and anticipate the possibility that they conflict in dysfunctional ways.
- Agility – be willing to try out different cultural priorities. Before deciding that the counterculture is necessarily problematic you should look at what it is solving for.
- Alignment – prioritize one cultural norm that applies to all units and unifies the organization rather than trying to be perfectly aligned on everything.
Show Links:
- The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations [Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization]
- Maersk: Driving Culture Change at a Century-Old Company to Achieve Measurable Results [Berkeley Haas Case Series]
- Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach [Journal of Management Studies]
- A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundaries [Sociological Methods & Research]
- The Lasting Leadership Lessons From The Challenger Disaster [Forbes]
- 5 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Organisation [Salesforce Blog]
