Niels PflaegingJul 25, 2023

Culture change is neither hard nor easy.
Neither fast nor slow.
Neither good nor bad.
Culture is a bit like the weather:
you cannot change it, even though it changes all the time.
Culture is read-only.

#betacodex #culturechange #transformation #vfot #openspacebeta #culture #orgdev #lean #agile #teal #scrum #orgdesign #leadership #futureofwork #newwork #systemsthinking #systemstheory

Show threadgnaddrigJul 25, 2023
@nielspflaeging I wouldn't say culture is read-only. Everything anybody does adds a tiny bit of momentum, and when enough of those bits add up they can begin to effect changes in culture, usually very slowly, but sometimes there can be tipping points that when triggered can cause rather abrupt changes. So to the individual, culture appears to be read-only, I agree. But in reality, it changes all the time because of how humans interact with each other in spaces governed by culture.
Show threadNiels PflaegingJul 25, 2023
@gnaddrig Thank you for sharing your opinion.
Still: Culture "governs" nothing. Culture is a shadow of a social system - not a "governing factor." It is output, not input.
How I know? It's basic systems theory.
Sadly, those scientific basics were ignored by people like Ed Schein. He promoted a lot of nonsense around culture, sadly.
#systemstheory #systemsthinking #cultrue #betacodex
Show threadgnaddrigJul 25, 2023

@nielspflaeging Well, maybe culture doesn't govern, but all people are subject to various sets of rules, and culture does not exist in empty space but will somehow be connected to these rules, maybe determined by these rules, I don't know. If the rules of any given society form culture, then culture changes with or because of the changes these rules undergo.

This is me extemporizing on a topic I am none too familiar with, but it's interesting ;)

Show threadNiels PflaegingJul 25, 2023

@gnaddrig
We don't have to agree. I am arguing on the basis of #science. Not sure what is the foundation of your post.

So here is what I know from #systemstheory: Rules (or principles) are part of a system - and when actors act within a system, that produces culture. Inevitably. #Culture isn't "just there". It is not a curse or witchcraft.

You can change the system (rules, principles, tools, boundaries) That will lead to behavioral changes in the system, which will change culture. #betacodex

Show threadNiels Pflaeging

@gnaddrig
Basically, I am saying that if you do NOT distinguish between a #system and a system's #culture, then "culture" becomes a chicken-and-egg problem. A myth. A curse. A god. Which it is not.

Culture is merely the shadow of a system. No more. No less.

I have written about this in my books #EssaysOnBetaVol1 and #OrganizeForComplexity.

#systemstheory #systemsthinking #culture #betacodex #orgdev #organizationaldevelopment #changemanagement #ChangeAsFlipping

Jul 25, 2023 at 10:26amWeb
Show threadgnaddrigJul 25, 2023
@nielspflaeging Now that makes sense to me. Thanks for explaining :)