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Managers, it’s time to do your job

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Summary

This article discusses the importance of culture as a powerful leadership tool for managers. It outlines the role of the organisation and the three ways to secure cooperation: economic, bureaucratic, and cultural. It explains how a bureaucracy works and the costs associated with it, and how culture encourages cooperation by aligning individual work with the employer's ambitions. It argues that culture allows autonomy and flexibility, while bureaucracy relies on outdated rules, and encourages HR teams to champion a model of leadership that puts culture at its heart.

Q&As

What is the purpose of an organisation?
The purpose of an organisation is to unite people of diverse experience and skills, and to equip them to deliver agreed ambitions in a way that satisfies as many needs as possible.

How does culture act as a leadership tool?
Culture acts as a leadership tool by allowing managers to structure outcomes and guide people in ways that lend themselves to autonomy, imagination, and flexibility. Values set out the manner in which work is to be done, and when people hold the same values, they more effortlessly agree on, and commit to, appropriate behaviours, outcomes, and standards.

What are the three ways to secure co-operation among employees?
The three ways to secure co-operation among employees are economic control, bureaucratic control, and cultural control.

How does corporate culture differ from a bureaucracy?
Corporate culture differs from a bureaucracy in that values dictate overall direction and do not need to be specified in restrictive detail. Culture allows managers to structure outcomes and guide people in ways that lend themselves to autonomy, imagination, and flexibility, while rules of a bureaucracy are imposed from outside, usually from above.

How can HR teams champion a narrative of culture as a leadership asset?
HR teams can champion a narrative of culture as a leadership asset by emphasizing that bureaucratic rules are easy to set, yet the necessary surveillance and follow-up have a detrimental effect on the experiences of both team members and managers. They can also emphasize that leadership through culture eases the burden of work and management, and that it brings team cohesion and consistency of direction, without binding people to unhelpful methods or outcomes.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides an excellent overview of the importance of culture in the workplace and how managers can use it to their advantage.

👎 This article is too long and could have been condensed to make the points more succinctly.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how managers should view culture as a valuable leadership tool, and how they can use it to achieve better outcomes. It also talks about the three ways to secure co-operation, which are economic, bureaucratic, and cultural control.

Friend: That's really interesting. It makes sense that managers should view culture as a valuable tool, especially in order to get the most out of their teams. What are the implications of this article?

Me: The article really highlights the importance of understanding how culture affects the workplace and how it can be used to achieve better outcomes. It also emphasizes the need for managers to be aware of the different ways that co-operation can be secured, such as economic, bureaucratic, and cultural control. Managers should also be aware of how bureaucracy can be restrictive and lead to a disconnect between the employer and employees, and how culture can be used to encourage co-operation instead.

Action items

Research the concept of “cultural control” and how it can be used as a leadership tool.
Develop a plan to implement cultural control in your organisation.
Reach out to a consultant or expert in the field to discuss how to best use cultural control to improve your organisation’s performance.

Technical terms

Organisational culture: The values, beliefs, and behaviors that make up the shared identity of an organization.
HR: Human Resources.
Bureaucracy: A system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.
Economic control: The use of economic incentives to influence behavior.
Cultural control: The use of shared values to influence behavior.
Autonomy: The ability to make one's own decisions without interference from others.
Psychological contract: An unwritten agreement between an employer and employee that outlines the expectations of each party.
Values: Principles or standards of behavior that guide an individual's actions and decisions.
Rules: A set of regulations or principles governing conduct within an organization.