The Nine Cultures Shaping Our Working Lives

By Katherine Sanders and Patrick Farrell

INTRODUCTION

Organizational (or company) culture is a difficult topic to wrap your arms around. We all know it’s important, but it’s hard to define exactly what we mean by it, much less how each of us can work to improve it.

WHY ORG. CULTURE IS DIFFICULT TO SHIFT

Part of that difficulty is because culture isn’t singular. There isn’t one culture that we all experience in the same way. We each live and work within multiple subcultures, and we bring with us our own personalities, preferences, histories and intentions.

It’s also helpful to remember that organizational culture isn’t generated by a single source. A list of corporate values doesn’t create a company culture. It can be tempting to declare an overriding organizational culture and expect it to supersede all others. That never works and can lead us in an unhelpful direction. Oversimplifying what culture is makes it more difficult for us to improve it.

We might draw the cultures people actually experience as a Venn diagram of interconnected circles. Some of the circles (subcultures) are completely enclosed in larger circles suggesting some shared beliefs and practices. Other subcultures might only partially overlap—or not overlap at all, suggesting that some beliefs and practices might be distinct to a particular group.

WHAT ARE THE NINE SUBCULTURES

We see nine levels shaping company culture. These nine subcultures interact to shape employees’ daily working lives.

Governmental & Economic Traditions
Industry-Centered Beliefs and Expectations
Geographic Culture and Regional Perspectives
Family and Community Cultures and Expectations
Corporate Culture and History
C-Suite Values
Institutional Processes & Structures
Divisional & Departmental Leadership Approaches
Working Group Structures and Dynamics

The first four levels are external influences on a company’s culture. We need to be aware of them and understand their impact, especially if we want to create healthier subcultures within our company. If our organization is challenging the larger cultural context, we should know that at the outset and design the rest of our work system accordingly.

We see levels 5-9 as intervention points for improving company culture. To shift organizational culture, change can (and should) be initiated from multiple places.

When we understand the many possible intervention points, including C-suite declarations, grass-roots movements and everything in-between, we have a better chance of success.