Today I want to address the challenges to adapt to a company culture when you enter a new organization or position. Sometimes it may feel that you are a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.
The quicker you can learn the new culture the easier your transition and integration within the organization will be.
The challenge to adapt yourself can sometimes feel daunting. Bear in mind that whatever new environment you enter, there is always a culture that You need to get familiar with. It may not only be a professional environment, think about a time when you changed a sports club, another voluntary organization or even moved to another neighborhood.
In order to understand culture, let’s define it as “a set of consistent patterns people follow for communicating, thinking and acting, all grounded in their shared assumptions and values”.
The culture in any organization can be pictured as a pyramid.
The top layer is easy to detect and you find things like logo, the dress code, in-house language for positions, departments, products etc.
The second layer gets a bit more complicated. It is less obvious and here you need a first experience to figure out the culture. This experience entails to how meetings are conducted, how to win recognition and how to get support for example.
The base of the pyramid is the toughest one and takes time. Here you need to understand the fundamental assumptions and values people in the organization have about how the world works.
To help you detect some areas in which culture may play a role, here is a list to consider:
- Influence: How do people get support for critical initiatives? Is it more important to have the support of a patron within the senior team, or affirmation from your peers and direct reports that your idea is a good one?
- Meetings: Are meetings filled with dialogue on hard issues, or are they simply forums for publicly ratifying agreements that have been reached in private?
- Execution: When it comes time to get things done, which matters more – a deep understanding of processes or knowing the right people?
- Conflict: Can people talk openly about difficult issues without fear of retribution? Or do they avoid conflict – or, even worse, push it to lower levels, where it can wreak havoc?
- Recognition: Does the company promote stars, rewarding those who visibly and vocally drive business initiatives? Or does it encourage team players, rewarding those who lead with authority but quietly and collaboratively?
- Ends versus means: Are there any restrictions on how you achieve results? Does the organization have a well-defined, well-communicated set of values that is reinforced through positive and negative incentives?
Adapting to a new organization is never easy. My advice is start polishing your edges by learning as much as you can from the people around you so you quickly will fit the “round” hole.
BeBold, Be Courageous and BE BRILLIANT!