T
TALKING HEADS
André Spicer
To understand organisational culture,
think like an anthropologist
E
ntering the atrium of a bank’s
headquarters in London’s
Canary Wharf, the first thing
I saw was a huge screen with the
company’s share price on it. I was
there because I was undertaking a
study of how banks were trying to
change their cultures.
Every one I visited showed
me impressive PowerPoint slides
featuring their cultural values;
terms such as ‘integrity’, ‘ethics’
and ‘innovation’ were common.
Executives told me how they train
their top managers to live these
values. Many were even tying
remuneration to the culture they
wanted to see.
I concluded that banks were
trying to change, but something
seemed to be going wrong. Culture
change had become seen by many
employees as just another thing that
gets in the way of doing their job.
As I looked back over my notes, I
realised that most banks were
looking for culture in the wrong
places. Instead of examining value
statements and desired behaviours,
they should have been looking at
the things that actually make up
culture. They needed to look at their
organisations like an anthropologist.
When an anthropologist studies
a new culture, they can spend up
to a year familiarising themselves
with it. They become a participant
observer; someone who takes part in
day-to-day life but also carefully
records what they see. To give order
to their observations, they might
look out for some of the following:
Rituals. What kind of elaborate
routines do people take part in which
seem to mean a lot to them but have
no obvious immediate function or
outcome. Think about the average
meeting and you get the picture.
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Myths. What stories do people
routinely tell each other, even if
they don’t know whether they are
true. Stories about how the firm was
founded are a common example.
Symbols. Which items in an
organisation have a deep sense of
meaning beyond their obvious use?
Back to that giant bank HQ atrium
which is there to remind visitors
and employees how important the
organisation is.
Gods and devils. To whom do
people in an organisation attribute
god-like qualities, and who are
spoken of as evil personified? Many
firms see their CEOs as having the
power of gods, but, when they are
deposed, they can become devils.
Castes. Which people are on top
and which people are ‘untouchable’?
When visiting one financial
institution, I met investment bankers
in plush surroundings similar to those
of a five-star hotel. I then crossed
the street and met the IT staff in a
cramped building with old office
furniture and peeling paint.
Language. How do people speak
to one another, what words do
they frequently use and which are
taboo? I noticed in many banks that
a generous helping of jargon was an
easy way to speak for an hour and
say nothing.
Kinship networks. Who is linked
with whom and how? In companies,
that means looking for corporate
families, groups of people related
by the experience of working with
each other in the past.
Systems of exchange. What do
people trade in the organisation and
“
An
anthropologist
becomes a
participant
observer;
someone who
takes part in
day-to-day
life but also
carefully records
what they see
”
how does that circle of trade work?
People might swap information
today for a job opportunity in a few
months’ time.
Thinking like an anthropologist
helps us to understand the real
cultures underneath all those value
statements. Try the approach
yourself or, better still, bring
someone in with anthropological
skills to give you a more objective
outsider’s view.
Train your staff to be insider
anthropologists too. It all helps
to build a richer picture, getting
beyond buzzwords to understand
the cultures that really drive
your organisation.
André Spicer is professor of
organisational behaviour at Cass
Business School at City, University
of London.