Organizational culture is like a hippopotamus or a message in a bottle

Organizational culture is like a hippopotamus or a message in a bottle

Organizational culture is like a hippopotamus in the water or like a message in a bottle - Illustration

Organizational culture is like a hippopotamus in the water or like a message in a bottle

Organizational culture change at any scale can be challenging. And in order to overcome challenges like these, leaders have to start diving into the depths of the organization and figure out what is truly driving the organizational culture.

The visible and invisible elements of organizational culture – there’s more beneath the surface

While many aspects of organizational change are apparent and obvious, there are also many more factors that are hidden under the surface, and more ubiquitous.

“The iceberg that sinks organizational change” and “Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg” offers a visualization of factors that affect organizational change.

It uses a visual metaphor that describes many visible and invisible factors as an iceberg.

Many of these factors are above the surface, but the majority of the mass is below the surface – similar to the anatomy of an iceberg.

Diving into the depths of the organization – Struggle with this cultural alignment

Many organizations and leaders struggle with this cultural alignment issue for years before seriously looking at performance improvement through the lens of organizational culture …… the shared assumptions, beliefs, values, practices and ingrained behavior that contribute to the unique way organizations “get things done”.Organizational culture is like a hippopotamus in the water

Organizational culture is like a message in a bottle

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About The Author

Torben Rick

Experienced senior executive, both at a strategic and operational level, with strong track record in developing, driving and managing business improvement, development and change management. International experience from management positions in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom

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