A Culture of Processes
Brief discussion of the impact business processes have on company culture.
After viewing several of Simon Sinek's Youtube videos on The Infinite Game, some thoughts on organizational culture...
1. There is no finish line when it comes to culture. It evolves constantly.
2. There are external influences - clients, suppliers, the industry to which a company is part of, government and politics of a country, global trends, technology, etc.
3. There are internal influences - the leader of the organization, the leadership team, compensation, the quality of hires, processes and pain points.
There is a constantly-evolving interplay of all the above for sure, as not a single one exists in a vacuum. But we often take processes for granted because we are either too immersed in them, or we are simply too dismissive of their effects.
An organization's culture is profoundly driven by processes that define how its people interact with one another. Fragmented processes breed a fragmented culture.
As to how much pride people will have working for their company's success, that hinges largely on the ability of the organization to successfully and effectively address its process pain points, which are actually microcosms of whatever major challenges an organization needs to overcome. If a company is unable to address employee frustrations with even the simplest of process steps, why should leaders expect their people to believe that the company is capable of long-lasting achievements?
The bottom line is, if a company is really serious about fostering a more professionalized culture, it is impractical for its leaders to exclude processes in any discussion. There are simply no shortcuts nor are there quick-fixes in professionalizing an organization.