Culture and Culture Change - summary of pre-reading

1. Culture and Culture Change- summary of pre-reading Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

2. Our mental models (frames, values, beliefs, attitudes, assumptions) direct what we perceive and what we do Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

3. Perception does not equal reality but it does determine behaviour My actions are based on my beliefs I adopt beliefs about the world I make assumptions based on the meanings I added I add meanings (cultural and personal) I perceive part of the data The ladder of inference Observable data and experiences Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

4. Culture = shared mental models • The culture of a social group is the shared norms and expectations that guide the behaviour of its members. Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

5. Consequences/outcomes are a source of feedback for learning Single Loop learning Double Loop learning = REFRAMING Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

6. Our mental models are largely unconscious; people are not aware of the mental models underpinning their ways of working and, therefore, are blind to the fact that they can choose to behave differently. Revealing cultural/personal meanings, assumptions and beliefs is difficult because: • What we think and say are our values, attitudes and beliefs can be quite different to what is actually guiding our behaviour (a challenge underpinning Values – Goals – Actions conversations with your coach)

7. We resist operating from different values and beliefs because: • We seek to confirm rather than disconfirm what we believe • We are typically anxious about acting out of new mental models • We engage in defensive thinking to avoid facing up to the inconsistencies between what we say we do and what we actually do

8. Argyris says: there are basically two strategies that underpin all human behaviour which he calls Model I and Model II

9. Model I • Model I is the strategy that supports cognitive bias and defensive reasoning • Nearly everyone has been conditioned to adopt Model I as their unconscious strategy • We are usually deluded in thinking that we are acting from values and beliefs that are not Model I

10. Normally we behave according to Model I

11. That IMPACT of Model I is described by Argyris as a defensive routine Model I defensiveness is the source of most failure to learn (personally and organisationally) What we think and say are the drivers our choice of behaviour does not stand up to close examination

12. The typical Model I meeting: The informal conversations that take place before The public, explicit conversation The internal conversations unfolding inside the participants’ heads (their LHC) The informal corridor meetings after the meeting

13. Double loop learning is enabled by Model II Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

14. Culture change is double loop learning • Culture change is commonly referred to as winning “hearts and minds” – influencing people to make changes in their shared mental models. • Model II means advocating behaviour change, being explicit about your reasoning for making that change and being open to challenging questions about your reasoning • Model II means revealing the disconnection between what is said and what is done - discussing the undiscussible Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

15. Social Virtues MODEL I MODEL II Help and Support Increase the other's capacity to confront their own ideas, to create a window into their own mind, and to face the unsurfaced assumptions, biases and fears through the use of publicly compelling and testable reasoning Give approval and praise to others. Tell others what you believe will make them feel good about themselves. Reduce their feelings of hurt by telling them how much you care and, if possible, agree with them that the others acted improperly. Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

16. MODEL I MODEL II Respect for Others Attribute to others a high capacity for self-reflection and self-examination without becoming so upset that they lose their effectiveness or their sense of self-responsibility and choice. Keep testing this attribution openly. Defer to others and do not confront others' reasoning or action. Honesty Tell others no lies or tell others all you think and feel. Encourage your self and others to say what you know yet fear to say. Minimise what would otherwise be subject to distortion and cover up of the distortion. Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

17. MODEL I MODEL II Strength Acquire a capacity for advocating your position combined with inquiry and self-reflection. Feeling vulnerable while encouraging enquiry is a sign of strength. Acquire a capacity for advocating your position in order to win and for holding your own position in the face of others advocacy. Feeling vulnerable is a sign of weakness. Integrity Stick to your principles, values and beliefs Advocate your principles, values and beliefs in a way that invites inquiry into them and encourages others to do the same. Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

18. LHC Exercise • Have a conversation in pairs to explore the implications of not revealing your LHC thoughts and feelings Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

19. How we learn Model I PARENT • Persuade by logic that my views are right • Control / appear strong • Do what I say even if it is not always what I do • Punish deviance CHILD • Conform or manipulate to get my own way • Avoid confronting the mismatch between said and done • I am wrong (not OK) – my parents are OK • Don’t contradict Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

20. Learning Model II ADULT – ADULT • State my truth but know that it is a personal construction, just as is theirs is. • My perspective is influenced by my current frames – try to discover what I am failing to see. Help the other see what I think they are missing. • Invite enquiry into and testing of my viewpoint and enquire into/test theirs. • See conflict as healthy and productive Malcolm Young & Associates 2014

21. Ext ernal Environment Malcolm Young & Associates Leadership Mission & Organisation Strategy Culture Burke-Litwin Model of Organisation Performance Management Practices Systems Structure Climate Individual Task & Motivation needs & individual values skills Individual & Organisational Performance

22. Complex problem High Complexity Model II Dialogue about what and how Model II Dialogue about how My / our goal Collective / System goals PARTNERSHIP COORDINATION COMPETITION Low Complexity Change Management problem Adapted from - Working in Systems:The Landscapes Framework Pat Gordon Diane Plamping Julian Pratt