The Role of Cultural Brokers in Building Agile Change-Ready Organizations Michael Sullivan
THE DANGER OF A SINGLE STORY Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TED Global 2009 http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, 2009 https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
create balanced stories re-storying peoples who had been knocked silent Chinua Achebe Author of When Things Fall Apart https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/08/an-african-voice/306020/
Be the story teller Awareness of Biases Avoid Single Stories
Cultural Broker Definition person who transparently bridges, links or mediates between groups or persons of differing cultural backgrounds for the purpose of reducing conflict or producing change
Anthropology Interpreters Education
Free cultural expressions Facilitate dialogue Build social contexts Serve as advocate
Map Your Intercultural Competence Cognitive Accurately process information regarding culturally different others / practices Affective Positive emotional responses toward culturally different others / practices Behavioral Acting appropriate manners when interacting with culturally diverse others
Cultural Autobiography (Mapping) 1. Reflect on Demographic Identities Source: Loden, M. & Rosener, J., (1990). Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource. List demographic identities you and your family hold in diversity dimensions. 2. Reflect on Formative Experiences List formative experiences for you & family 3. Map Your Journey Describe experiences of each one in #1 and #2 as relates to each other 4. Compare to Less Common Identities Interview person with 3 different identities than self; describe how similar, different, and increase awareness
Cultural Autobiography (Mapping) What other identifiers might one consider? Source: Loden, M. & Rosener, J., (1990). Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource.
Develop Cultural Broker Skills Increase intercultural capabilities
Think about how you (others) think about culture and change
Change Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast
Case Study
Surface Culture (explicit) Deep Culture (tacit) Deep Cultural Change Dominate Single Story ARTIFACTS VALUES ASSUMPTIONS Adapted from: Edgar Schein s Organizational Cultural Model (1984, 2010) and Edward T. Hall s Cultural Iceberg Model (1976)
Dive Deep Into Cultural Assumptions and Values
Quick Poll Who has tried Agile CM?
The agile cultural shift Do AGILE Be agile
The agile cultural shift Change Resistant Change Ready https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-five-trademarks-of-agile-organizations
The agile cultural shift Change Resistant Change Ready https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-five-trademarks-of-agile-organizations
The agile leadership shift Increasingly focuses on the latent leadership capabilities distributed throughout collaborative social network
What does a be agile culture look like? actual agile culture will vary from company to company
What might an agile culture look like? Inverted management pyramid More humane work environment Constant knowledge creation Empowered teams Cross-functional teams Growth-minded learning Never-ending commitment to actively nurture, and systematically strengthen, entrepreneurial mindsets and behavior throughout the organization. Shared accountability Servant leadership Value over activity Trust Openness/Transparency Frequent feedback
Culture Change
Cultural Brokerage & Multicultural Teams Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ztggpwng8
Cultural Brokerage & Multicultural Teams Simply assembling multicultural teams does not always translate to high levels of creativity and effectiveness Diverse perspectives and knowledge can produce conflicting assumptions / inconsistent norms creative & desired outcomes
Broker Types Based on Cultural Overlap Cultural Insider Cultural Outsider Monocultural Members Monocultural Members Monocultural Members Adapted from: Jang, S. 2017. Cultural Brokerage and Creative Performance in Multicultural Teams. Organizational Science, 28,6.
Broker Types Based on Cultural Overlap Cultural Insider Change Leader Cultural Outsider Change Leader Monocultural Members Groups Monocultural Members Monocultural Members Groups Groups Adapted from: Jang, S. 2017. Cultural Brokerage and Creative Performance in Multicultural Teams. Organizational Science, 28,6.
Map Team Culture Step 1: Select predominant cultural categories (demographics, national origin, organizational unit, geographical area, etc. Step 2: Identify groups as monocultural or multicultural groups (by shading in circles). Step 3: Identify change leaders (self) as cultural insider or cultural outsider Members Members
Culture Brokerage & Leadership Difficult & taxing Empower cultural brokers Create time and space Recognize dynamics Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ztggpwng8
What other change situation can this apply?
Map Cultural Overlaps Identify Brokers Deepen Leadership Awareness
Scenario Global company decides best way to expand new European & global markets is by moving headquarters to Ireland and consolidating the number of warehouses throughout Europe. Leadership approaches you on concern about the cultural impact on people, fearing it may result in resistance to the supply chain change. How might you use Cultural Broking to address this concern?
Scenario: What one Company is doing Formal Leadership Enterprise Wide & Teams ID & Develop Cultural Brokers Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) Competing Values Framework (OACI) Intercultural Change Leadership Competencies
Mapping Cultural Brokering Map Oneself Map Organization Map Groups Map Leadership
Summary Review Deep Cultural Change
Questions & Comments