Sharing is Caring 201

Culture = Everything CEO and N-1 DO or DON'T do.

Climate = Organization feeling about what is going on.

Therefore, Culture is the cornerstone the governs the behavior of everyone in the organization, regardless of what people feel about it. Although, it is human nature to (feel then think) when people are afraid they will react upon it until someone/something calms them down. When people are happy, they will also react upon it until someone/something change their feelings. This is Climate. Culture will be the thing that will always maintain the reactions or the behavior. Where people will know the consequences to their actions or reactions. There will be no need for someone/something that calms them down or change their feelings.

Imagine that you have been working so hard all year long, all the sleepless nights , all of the challenges you have overcome, all of the alignments you had to do, all of the convincing you had to formulate, all of the impact you have made. Then you hear that you will have a new manager joining the organization. He/she has no clue who you are, or what you did. What will be your fears? what will be your excitement? how are you going to react? what will be your reaction during the first month he/she joins? If your work is well documented, if your performance is shining like a star, if your peers love you and respect you, then you should be relaxed. They are the witnesses of what you have done. Other than that, you will react differently.

Now here is where the difference between climate & culture. The sense of fear that you had when the new manager joined and you don't have what it takes to prove that you are worthy will create fearful climate for you and your peers. When you find out that he is a nice person, down to earth, will not look at the past, will only look at the future, then you will be calm and in ease. So the climate of the department will go back to normal. On the other hand, with the progress of the work, you see. That he/she is hard to please, he is raising the bar so much. Demanding more than the previous manager, re-shifting the whole direction. Increasing the level of efficiency, redesigning the way of work, bringing new practices, and you are not ready, feeling less competent. Thats where the climate will go back to be disturbed. You will keep acting differently depending on what the climate feels like. You will not think first you will feel first. Culture will give the assurances of where things will be headed.

Culture on the other hand, will give you the comfort or discomfort of what will happen next regardless of the climate changes. If the organization culture is around fair performance evaluation and reward. Then you will know for sure that you will be fine regardless of what your manager attempts to do. He/She will fit into this culture, will do things like everyone else. Whether its good or bad. When its bad, at least you will know and believe in that culture because you already know how to navigate through it and you have been there for a while. if the culture you have in the organization is around continues development, then you will be ok with being incompetent, as the company will always develop you and invest in you. If the culture of the organization does not care about who you are, rather only look at the outcomes, then you will be afraid the whole time, even when you have the nicest manager.

Coming back to the first formula. If the HR create all of the policies and procedures in the world, and the top management allow exceptions, this is the culture "culture of favouritism". Same with transparency, fairness, risk, safety, innovation, customer centricity, agility, and diversity. Cultural change is also a challenge it self, don't think that if you don't like the current culture it will be easy to change it. Usually it require a lot of sacrifices to do so.

If you really want to know the organization culture and what it looks like. watch how will people act and react in the absence of management/surveillance.