Heifetz, Grashow and Linksy in "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership" suggest that cultures are TENACIOUS. They mean that cultures are difficult to change.
The authors argue that organizations "would have perished already if they were not fit to thrive in at least yesterday's world." (p. 50). Think about that for a moment. Even if an organizational culture seems absurd or archaic now this culture clearly served a purpose - otherwise that organization would not have survived.
- In "What you need to know about organizational culture" Edgard Schein says that "off-site training often fails because participants return to cultures that do not support the newly learned concepts, values, and assumptions." (p. 30). Why? And what can be done about it?
It's True! Schein further suggests that "one cannot simply change pieces of (a) stable culture without creating potentially massive anxiety" (p. 32).
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