Culture survey

Jack Ricchiuto jack at designinglife.com
Sun Jul 17 07:43:23 PDT 2005 

Here are some questions I think your client and the select group of folks
included in the conversation should consider ­ some are better than others,
all are valid.

Who else should  be in the conversation about culture?
What matters most to us about the culture of this organization?
What do we believe about the role of culture in the success of the
organization and its stakeholders?
Why are we talking about culture?
What¹s going well in the culture now and who¹s talking about that?
If we weren¹t talking about culture, what else would we want to talk about?
Do people in the organization feel like their strengths are engaged in their
work?
Do people feel like their work aligns with their passions and dreams?
Do they feel like the organization inspires passion and dreams?
What does it feel like to be a part of this organization?

Jack 


On 7/17/05 9:50 AM, "Esther Ewing" <EwingChange at aol.com> wrote:

> Harrison and others;
> I imagine that I was not entirely clear about my needs. In fact, while I need
> the elements of a culture survey (i.e. what kinds of continua would you put in
> one) I and my client have no intention of actually surveying. Rather, it is a
> talking point for facilitated conversations that one of my clients needs (with
> my help) to have with some others of the internal folks. So I'm not really
> setting out to do a big complicated culture survey. I'm trying to arm my
> client with some of the elements they need to consider which is why I posted
> to the list. I hoped that I would get some elements suggested by the list
> members. 
>  
> Thanks
> Esther
>>  
>> Esther -- Truth to tell, I am not much of  a survey person. Probably
>> emotional immaturity on my part, but in most cases I  find it gives me
>> information I (they) already knew or information that was  interesting but
>> basically irrelevant. And then of course there is the matter  of time and
>> expense. I think it (the survey) may also just set you up for  failure when
>> it comes to making some useful and needed change. What I have in  mind here
>> is the fact that most surveys I have seen give you results in bits  and
>> pieces, where as culture is always a "whole." Specifically, I  remember one
>> massive survey done in a massive organization -- which after many  months and
>> mucho bucks came up with the finding that, "We are a culture  of secrecy."
>> Basically this translated into the fact that nobody talked to  anybody else,
>> and when they did it was usually to supply mis-information. OK  -- Now what?
>> Well I suppose you could do training of various sorts --  communications,
>> personal integrity etc. And they did just that. Result? No  change. Except
>> for lots more time and money down the hole (into the  consultants' pockets).
>> It finally became clear to folks that this "problem"  had no single, simple
>> solution. Every part of their life together (culture)  either created or
>> supported their malady. If you were going to do something  useful, you would
>> have to change everything all at once! How is that for a  prescription for
>> failure? A job you would rather not take on? Speaking just  for myself --
>> this is a road I would not travel.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Alternative? Just do an Open Space. Or you  might call it Action Research.
>> Theme: "What are the issues and opportunities  for building a business we
>> would all like to be a part of?" Invite everybody  who cares -- and that
>> could be a lot of people. Results? -- Well I am sure you  can fill in the
>> pieces, but. . .
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> First off, the organization will essentially  "map" itself. All those "issues
>> and opportunities" will be the critical  cultural issues, at least as the
>> people see it. I sometimes think of Open  Space as a community Rorschach
>> Test. Since there is no content to begin with  (just a question) whatever
>> shows up is what the people see. Also, the critical  issues will be in the
>> language of the people, not in some pseudo-psycho-babble  (pardon my bias).
>> This becomes important when you start to talk with folks.  They can actually
>> understand what you are talking about and do not have to  learn a whole new
>> esoteric technical language.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> But most important (as I see it) -- they will  actually be the change they
>> seek. And it will have happened everywhere and all  at once. At least that
>> was the experience of the organization I was talking  about above. Suddenly
>> all those folks who knew that they were condemned to be  a, "culture of
>> secrecy," experienced something radically different. In the  closing I noted
>> this "fact," and followed up with, "Your culture change has  happened. You
>> can continue and get better -- or just go back and be miserable  the way you
>> were. The choice is yours." Sad to say, they chose to go back and  be
>> miserable, or at least most of them did. But they never could deny that
>> alternatives existed -- and the smart ones (I think) sought those
>> alternatives, which in most cases meant choosing alternative employment. But
>> they did have a choice.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Harrison  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>    
>>  
>> Harrison Owen
>> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>> Potomac, MD   20854
>> USA
>> 301-365-2093
>> 207-763-3261 (summer)
>> website www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>>  
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>  
>>> From:  Esther  Ewing <mailto:EwingChange at aol.com>
>>>  
>>> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>>  
>>> Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2005 9:17  AM
>>>  
>>> Subject: Culture survey
>>>  
>>> 
>>>  
>>> Dear all:
>>>  
>>> I wondered if anyone can help me. I have a client with  whom I am engaged in
>>> an exercise in making a culture change. We want to  create a survey that
>>> allows their people to rate their organization on a  number of continua.
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> Picture, for example, a scale which goes from one to five  where one is
>>> "shares information openly" and five is "information is shared  on a
>>> need-to-know basis".
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> What I need to do is to measure the major continua that we  would ask people
>>> to rate the organization.
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> I could really use some suggestions for this and/or  examples of culture
>>> surveys. I would be glad to compile them and give the  results to anyone who
>>> would like to have them (assuming that the donor was  comfortable with
>>> that).
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> Can you help me?
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> Regards
>>>  
>>> Esther
>>>  
>>>  
>>>  
>>> Esther Ewing
>>> The Change Alliance - Building Organizational  Capability
>>> 330 East 38th St., Suite 53K
>>> New York, New York 10016,  USA
>>> 
>>> Phone: 212-661-6024
>>> Fax: 866-296-6712
>>> 
>>> Distributor of  Panoramic Feedback (www.panoramicfeedback.com)
>>> Kolbe Index  (www.kolbe.com)
>>> Certified Network Member - Team Management  Systems
>>> (www.teammanagementsystems.com)
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>  
> Esther Ewing
> The Change Alliance - Building Organizational Capability
> 330 East 38th St., Suite 53K
> New York, New York 10016, USA
> 
> Phone: 212-661-6024
> Fax: 866-296-6712
> 
> Distributor of Panoramic Feedback (www.panoramicfeedback.com)
> Kolbe Index (www.kolbe.com)
> Certified Network Member - Team Management Systems
> (www.teammanagementsystems.com)
> * * ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ------------------------------ To subscribe,
> unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about
> OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist




Jack

~~~~~~~~~~
jack ricchiuto
two.one.six/three.seven.three/seven.four.seven.five
www.DesigningLife.com / www.AppreciativeLeadership.com


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