Workplace culture reflects leaders' priorities

"Your worldview determines what problems you believe are important to solve, which, in turn, points you towards certain principles and away from others. Principles get operationalised in processes which shape everyday practices (behaviours), and ultimately determine performance."

Gary Hamel

It's the underpinning assumptions and beliefs of the leaders (their 'worldview') that inform business models and operating models ("The business / organisation we will be!...").

Common assumptions and beliefs that determine priorities for industrial leaders often include:

1. 'My previous experience equips me to accurately predict the future.'

2. Success comes from directing and pace setting

3. Desired results can be achieved through process management 

4. High performance means high compliance

5. Change needs to be 'driven through' an organisation

6. 'Learning' (only) = 'being trained'.

So organisational cultures are outcomes (think a reflection, or a shadow) of the practical impacts of these assumptions and beliefs.

If you're serious about having some new and different characteristics in your workplace culture (e.g. 'open', 'accountable', 'equitable', 'learning', 'psychologically safe', 'innovative', 'autonomous', 'diverse', 'engaged', 'supportive', 'empowered', 'connected', 'outcome focused', 'customer oriented', 'agile'... etc.) then you'll need to commit to exposing, acknowledging, and updating leaders' current worldviews - that have facilitated the existing cultures over time.

(A decision to develop separate 'Culture Plans' from a 'Culture Team' led by a 'Culture Director' highlights - and reinforces - a mechanistic, linear, siloed mindset that has probably helped contributed to 'the culture problem' that now needs to be 'fixed').

You can't have new cultural outputs from the from the same old inputs - regardless of new statements, buzzwords and collateral.

Without a shift in leaders' assumptions and beliefs, all you'll have is a cargo cult.