Mentoring one of my team, and discussing practice culture, made me consider how important it is to understand the organisation.
Not the understanding that comes from functions, accounts and KPIs but what is its personality?
For this you need big answers to big questions:
Where is power and influence held?
Who controls resources and knowledge?
How important are titles, rules, development and innovation?
What are the strongly held values and behaviours?
Much of this actually shapes how we're viewed internally and externally.
This is easier for small organisations to define but tougher for those larger, and spread out, or if they don't consider themselves as one but are trying to act as one; CCG’s could be seen like this.
It's important stuff especially at times of great change like the NHS is experiencing. It helps you understand why things happen. Why some things work and others don't. It can also enable you to use your culture for positive effect and tells you if it’s a barrier and needs cultural change.
Leaders need to understand their organisation's culture to effectively implement strategy and achieve goals.
So, if you’re planning on making something happen start by getting to know your organisation.
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