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REACHING INTO THE CULTURE
Man ’ s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back
to its original dimensions.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.In Chapter Two , we explained why culture matters. We hold
that culture is often viewed in either of two ways. One, a deter-
ministic view, says culture is the collection of social beliefs that
determine behavior, limit learning, and channel choice. This
view prevents learning in the collective and locates the power
mostly at the top. This understanding, which is held closely in
conformance - based cultures, limits an organization to a steep
command - and - control hierarchy that creates dependency on
the leaders by the followers. As we ’ ve pointed out, a Dependent -
Conformer subculture may be useful in select environments like
security systems or accounting departments, but it no longer
works in many organizations. We bet this is the kind of culture
you wish to transform.
A second view of culture defi nes it as emerging social
beliefs that expand behaviors and learning, extending choices
by creating new tools and meaning (Bohannon, 1995). That
view sees culture as adaptive and generative in dynamic, com-
petitive environments — the environments that are now chal-
lenging most organizations. We are betting this is the kind of
culture you want to attain. Such a culture can be developed
and practiced through what we called DAC — a view of lead-
ership focused on the outcomes of direction, alignment, and
commitment.