How many cultures does a company have?

One, if you believe the articles, studies and interviews that abound, but that isn’t a very accurate picture of reality.

Cultural reality is comprised of multiple micro cultures co-existing beneath the larger corporate culture umbrella.

How many?

One for every person in any type of management or leadership (if you insist on separating them) role, formal or not.

Culture is a function of MAP; everybody’s MAP is unique and for that reason each person’s perception of the culture fostered by their boss is at least slightly different.

And if the perception is different, then their interpretation and implementation of it will also be different.

The result is micro cultures.

That’s why cultural fit or, at the very least, cultural synergy, is the most important trait to look for when hiring at every level.

Flickr image credit: h080

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 at 1:15 am and is filed under Culture, Ducks In A Row. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: Culture, MAP (mindset attitude philosophy), perceptions
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