The behavioral and sociological characteristics of the organization, and the psychology of the people who comprise it.
While culture is often used in a vague and non-specific way, we define it precisely as:
That can best be understood by breaking it into three parts:
| 1. | Presuppositions: The things we take for granted in our interactions...such as the presupposition I have in your reading this page that you understand English. Presuppositions are the hidden parts of all our communication, and may be thought of as the entire complex pattern of assumptions we make when we interact with another human being. Virtually all of the presuppositions are totally undocumented. |
| Examples: How ideas are valued in the organization, who is permitted to object or dissent, appropriate dress codes, what tolerance is provided for working hours, how one department's "unwritten rules" may vary from another's. | |
| 2. | Patterns: Presuppositions come in patterns, or collections of related assumptions. For example, the organization in which presuppositions of rigid hierarchy are evident will usually also have strict rules on who's permitted to dissent from a superior's decisions. |
| 3. | Evident: Fortunately, you can collect evidence to support the existance of a particular pattern of presuppositions...by observing the behavior (or, often, absence of behavior) of the people in the organization. |
Effective deployment of Organizational Technology requires attention be paid to culture. In the most effective organizations, attention is also paid to organizational identity, strategy, policies and procedures. Our model of how organizations change is defined as a series of discrete steps.
All culture is based on interpersonal communication, only some of which occurs in words. To dig deeper, check into the difference between analog (non-verbal) and digital (verbal) communication.