When our culture blows up

Why is the culture such a mess? In a previous post I talked about cultures being made up of 'code', 'climate' and 'character' and if one of these goes wrong we get a really distorted sense of what healthy organisations look like.

Nomadic wanderer: We are on the road to nowhere. This is about a lack of ‘code’. There may be a healthy emotional climate and leaders with good strengths but it doesn’t point anywhere. This can be the case when really competent people are put together but there is a lack of cause, purpose and sense of where they are going together. This also happens when we get mission drift - where good people get disconnected from the heartbeat of what they are doing. 

Saboteur: We are adding fuel to the fire and it’s burning us. This is about lack of ‘climate’. You can have people with great skills and a codified sense of where you want to go, but without a climate in which it is possible to exercise these things it will fail. We may think all is going well right up until we hit a tough situation and things escalate quickly and with volatility and the back lash often to crisis is to reign everything in and not try and do anything so people pendulum swing to a culture of safety. 

Lunatic at the wheel: Where despite many good things being in place the reality is that leaders don’t have the capacity to lead in the next season. This is about a lack of ‘character’. Organisations and families and businesses feel limited, stifled, and stuck because the leaders aren’t good enough to go to the next place. Maybe they are promoted above their ability, or the company has outgrown them, or they were simply the only volunteer. This is often the easiest to spot and the hardest to change.