So little is understood about the mysteries of an organisation’s culture, is it any wonder that business today shakes it head and simply decides to dispute the existence of cultural issues. As strategists we have no choice but to acknowledge its existence because we see its effects each and every day.
Understanding culture in your organisation, while onerous, is never the less, an essential ingredient to success and a failure to recognise or understand its ramifications is nothing short of dangerous.
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
Nothing should shock me any more. I’m considered a resident of the Home for the Bewildered; honoured by punks who address me as ‘Grandad’; checked out by females who look like Whistler’s Mother and generally treated as if the autumn of my life has turned distinctly snowy. Yet contrary to popular belief, age does not insulate you against disbelief or observed stupidity. Just yesterday, I read about a caring business owner who in response to a customer complaint, promptly banned the customer from his store, abused her, used foul language to describe her complaint and harassed her all the way through the car park to her car.
I can’t help wondering how we’ve managed to create a free enterprise system? When you sit down and think about it, we’ve managed to garner a consumer market despite not having an understanding of the most important factor in the marketing equation – the consumer. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself again.
As is the habit of my generation, we read, view and listen to ‘the news’. And we actually enjoy it… or at least most of the time we do. I love it all, the good, the bad and the just plain bloody stupid and boy am I discovering that there’s a whole new generation of ‘stupid’. Sportsmen who don’t have the brains not to get caught twice; stars with problems that defy description and ordinary folk who find some sort of sadistic joy in copying them. Yes! We certainly are breeding a whole new regime of idiots who will sadly diminish the already sagging gene pool.
I admit it. I’m an eighteen year old trapped in a sixty year old body and for the life of me I wish some of my aged friends would join me. Let’s face it, we seniors are a tatty lot. We’ve forgotten more than the young folk know, but the bit we forgotten is how to be young.
In 1988 I returned from a business trip to the USA and spent the flight reading a book about Corporate Culture. Since then organisational culture has played a huge part in my professional education, so much so that I am asked to comment and advise on its impact, structure and its conceptual existence.
I was there when it was born. It was a short birth time and it grew quickly. It started its life as a bubble and very quickly grew into a hot air balloon. I refer of course to the internet, which by the way started life as the ‘Super-highway’ Today it’s a multi-billion dollar business and has confirmed itself as one of yesterday’s most important innovations.