Before You Tinker with Organizational Culture - Become a Culture Sleuth
…observe, investigate, dig deeper è link clues together
If you have the inclination or the need to tinker with an organization’s culture - you might want to start by becoming a culture sleuth.
Culture sleuths are problem solvers. Their job is to uncover clues and develop leads which explain why problems are not easily solved. The secret is to keep personal antennae tuned for data that can be linked together to detect the underlying cause for a problem.
You want to become a culture sleuth to become more successful in what you do - help yourself more deeply recognize and solve problems in the workplace - in community organizations - or why there is a global crisis in the banking industry!
Imagine yourself to be an investigative reporter, such as Carl Bernstein or Bob Woodward - or work for Al Jazeera news network - or at The Smoking Gun website.
The job of a culture sleuth is to look for the story behind the story - to be curious and to continuously dig deeper. The purpose is to find the underlying reasons for people’s actions today that may have been put in place during another time and place. These underlying clues guide the sleuth to a set of shared values and a belief system that help solve a problem.
Does this kind of problem-solving work sound intriguing to you? It is a good way to get yourself ready to tinker with organizational culture.
1. Observe what is put up on the wall (pictures, plaques, web-pages)
2. Investigate what an organization or community measures (annual reports)
3. Dig deeper into stories about founders, leaders - their response to crisis and success (news articles & history timelines)
4. Link the clues together (create a shared culture map)
