Why does distinguishing between culture of the organization and organizational culture change everything?

When talking about culture in the world of work and organizations, I often see the terms “culture of the organization” and “organizational culture” used interchangeably. However, these words cover two very distinct realities contained in the very definition of the word culture (see Petit Robert dictionary):

1. All acquired forms of behavior in human societies

2. The development of certain faculties of the mind through appropriate intellectual exercises

In fact, in the world of organizations, on the one hand there is the “culture of the organization,” which defines its shared representation (definition 1), and on the other hand, there is the “organizational culture,” which reflects a capacity for reflection on the organization. Essentially, this is the difference between having and being.

Organizational design is precisely about drawing on “organizational culture” to influence “the culture of the organization”

The culture of the Organization : the collective narrative

The culture of the organization is the result of the iterative construction of a collective narrative that allows its members to identify with the social group to which they belong. Over time, it is nourished by the stories we tell each other, successes, failures, key decisions, etc. (as well as everything that everyone knows but doesn't say).

It refers to everything that constitutes its unique identity: its values, rituals, beliefs, ways of working, relationship to time, customers, innovation, etc. It is the unspoken grammar common to all, shaping behaviors and decision-making. It is as elusive as it is indescribable, yet permeates everything.

 Organizational culture: the degree of mastery and reflection

Organizational culture refers to an organization's ability to analyze its own functioning and deviations, to capitalize on its expertise or to question it in order to continuously adapt to contexts that are in constant “revolution.”

In other words, it is not so much a question of “who we are” as “how we know how to reflect on ourselves and resynchronize.”

Drawing a parallel with a person, we say that someone is cultured when we perceive an ability to draw on a variety of subjects in depth, but also:

• An ability to connect this knowledge, to build bridges between disciplines and their field

• A critical mind: analyzing, comparing, putting things into perspective

• An open mind: curiosity, a taste for discovery, an ability to welcome other points of view and approaches

A human dimension: culture can be seen in the way people express themselves, engage in dialogue, and respect others.

To put it simply, organizational culture is this capacity for openness and “connection” that gives the organization its great structural and social flexibility. The stronger the organizational culture (i.e., broad and extensive across all strata), the more fluid the ability to implement change (i.e., rapid and with as little disruption as possible).

Organizational design is precisely, beyond methods and tools, an ability to structure a reflection with teams, the result of which cannot be just an organizational chart, but a holistic vision of what the organization should become: it means mobilizing and nurturing this “organizational culture” in the service of the “culture of the organization” in order to “deliberately design” new frameworks and new rules of the game in new contexts:

•  This therefore requires redistributing priorities in a different way

• This will change the allocation of resources, and therefore the powers and relationships between the actors and thus its sociology (= dynamics of cooperation)

• This will lead to supporting them in new representations (new positioning)

The stronger the “organizational culture,” the faster and earlier the actors will take responsibility for the changes to be made (in a logic of assuming the consequences of their choices in the change—their positioning in the change).

Linking context, strategy, organizational culture, powers in place, information and decision-making channels, governance, procedural and informal functioning, etc. requires mobilizing a range of topics that make OD a complex but oh-so-fascinating subject.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)