Culture is an icebergCulture is an icebergCulture is an icebergCulture is an iceberg
    • Our Expertise
      • Increase Effectiveness
      • Align & Focus
      • Agile Leaders
      • Autonomous Teams
    • Our Offer
    • Our Achievements
    • Our Blog
    • About Us
      • Contact Us
    • 4 Pillars
    • Academy for Agile Coaches
    0

    0 ₫

    • Academy Login
    • This content is only for registered users.

    Culture is an iceberg

    • Home
    • Insights
    • Agile Team Enablement
    • Culture is an iceberg
    Published by Nicolas Embleton on August 19, 2021

    There is a consensus that culture is important for the success and well-being of an organization. Yet, while we probably all have a rough feeling about what culture is, we often can’t really put our finger on it precisely. What exactly is culture? Where is it? What shapes it?

    All these questions eludes most of us most of the time, so, today, I’d like to take a look at the forces and elements that shape culture, the visible and the invisible ones: The culture iceberg.

    The visible

    Obviously, anything that you can actually see is visible. Let’s list some of them:

    • Policies & Emphases (for example time management, arriving to the office on time, presence, etc…)
    • Behaviors
    • Actions
    • Organizational Structures
    • Buildings and spaces
    • Habits, rituals, ceremonies
    • Mission Statement
    • Choices of tools, frameworks, etc…
    • Published values

    All of these can be seen, either in a document, from people, from the organization itself, etc. They all carry a strong cultural element and put all together will create a cultural dynamic.

    They will also all translate certain things. For example, an organization that has a strict budget planning, that has a very hierarchical organizational structure, that has a strong manager-report emphasis, processes and controls, is probably an organization that believes that trust is not automatic and that you must enforce it, and that will put a lot of effort in building a command and control structure.

    Therefore, every choice made translates into culture. Are you using KPIs or OKRs? Are you using Scrum or Waterfall (or nothing named)? Do you have strict close-door budgeting or bottom-up budgeting or agile budgeting or no budgeting at all? Do you have strict yearly appraisals with a calendar quarter dedicated for it or do you do peer-2-peer feedback at contract anniversary (check out my article on performance appraisals for more on that)?

    As you can see, and probably start to feel, just about everything you do will translate in a cultural dynamic, promote certain things and discourage others.

    The invisible

    Now, the fun part. The invisible forces and elements that also build the culture, but in ways that are much less obvious, however pervasive. As we understand teams and organizations as complex adaptive systems, we know that it is impossible to control every bit of interaction within the team. But as much as your actions translate into a culture, so are the actions of your team – as well as sometimes the lack of actions.

    An important point first. Not all of these elements and forces are intentional or even voluntary. Most of the time, they are just actions or translations of certain key people’s own beliefs, that bleed onto others through certain mechanisms like hiring, organizational structure or simply behaviors. And sometimes, it is just how things have always been done within a team.

    Here are some of these invisible forces and elements (especially for leaders):

    • Actual values; values that people actually believe and care about but don’t always mention or even recognize
    • Feelings; sometimes these feelings are visible, but how often? You often behave as a direct influence from them, but you don’t see them. Therefore, they influence your actions, which influence the culture.
    • Assumptions & Beliefs;
    • Unconscious thoughts, biases;
    • Perception;
    • Localized Decision-Making, which might result into unmanaged conflicts (aka team politics);

    As you can see, these things will have an impact on the decisions and actions that will be taken, and are therefore invisible forces that will directly influence the cultural dynamics.

    The cultural “Iceberg”

    The takeaways

    Everyone’s actions in the organization will shape the cultural dynamic, and the most powerful ones will likely have most impact. The effects can also be long-lasting ripples which outcome is hard to predict. For example, if someone hires a team, the cultural impact this person will have on this team, and this team on other teams, will live on and grow for a long time.

    There are many visible and invisible forces that act to shape the culture. Impact can come from many things, decisions, actions, or even a lack of either.

    Often, the impact is not intended, it is just influenced by one’s own beliefs and feelings. The actions and decisions taken will shape the culture without awareness on the cultural side effects.

    Therefore, if you care about culture as an individual, it is important that when you make a decision, or decide to take – or not – an action, you think about the cultural impact and consequences of what you do – or don’t do. As leaders, it is impossible to keep control of all the individual activities and behaviors. The key is not to provide a system which controls your team, but rather a system in which the desired culture is visible, so there is no need to control your team, your team is empowered to take control of itself, allowing you to focus on coaching them versus managing them. In the next article, we will explore some ideas on how to do that.

    Do you want to learn more about the effects of the “culture – iceberg”? Join us for the ThinkTank session on 25 August 2021 from 09.00 – 10.00 ICT.

    Share
    Nicolas Embleton
    Nicolas Embleton
    Nicolas likes to describe himself as a creative technologist with a business mindset. With a strong background in tech, management, entrepreneurship, and both corporate and startup environment, he has a clear understanding of what makes companies tick. He is versatile, adaptable and T-shaped. Loving building business systems and product development, he is customer-oriented, value-centric, perfectionist, and always looking for improvement. **Inspect and adapt** is his motto. He can easily have integrated discussions with top management about strategy, vision, business goals but also have detailed and technical discussions with the teams and solve problems or drive the teams to find viable solutions.

    Related posts

    Role of Company leaders in an Agile journey to HIgh-Performance Teams
    January 11, 2023

    Harnessing High-Performance Teams Through Agile Principles


    Read more
    What is Agile? True Agile is rarely visible in it's process
    January 5, 2023

    Agile: More than Just a Framework


    Read more
    Portrait Photo of Woman in Red Top Wearing Black Framed Eyeglasses Standing In Front of White Background Thinking
    December 13, 2022

    Making the most of Scrum: Avoid these Misconceptions


    Read more

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Logo semdi solutions

    semdi solutions Co. Ltd.

    Level 14, Saigon Center 1
    65 Le Loi
    Ward Bến Nghé, District 1
    Hồ Chí Minh City

     
    • Contact
    • Imprint
    • Privacy Policy
    semdi solutions, © 2022
      0

      0 ₫

      • Academy Login
      • This content is only for registered users.
      ✕

      Login

      Lost your password?

      We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
      Read More about our privacy policy
      Cookie SettingsAccept All
      Manage consent

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
      CookieDurationDescription
      _GRECAPTCHA5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
      viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
      Functional
      Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
      CookieDurationDescription
      ppwp_wp_session30 minutesNo description
      Performance
      Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
      Analytics
      Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
      CookieDurationDescription
      _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
      _ga_8T1CV8HV5N2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
      _gat_gtag_UA_28003764_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
      _gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
      _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
      Advertisement
      Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
      CookieDurationDescription
      test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
      Others
      Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
      SAVE & ACCEPT
      Powered by CookieYes Logo
      Pre-register for our 4 Pillars Guide

      "*" indicates required fields