Kathryn Alexander presented on understanding organizational culture through examining hidden beliefs, lived values, and agreements. She discussed four major culture types - command and control, competitive, collaborative, and innovative. These cultures are created by hidden individual needs, lived values, and tacit and conscious agreements. Hidden individual needs can be understood using the "Bird's of a Feather" model of different personality types. Values and agreements both tacit and conscious also shape culture. Understanding these drivers can provide insights into predicting behavior and changing culture.

1. Hidden Beliefs
Tacit Values
and Culture
Presented by
Kathryn Alexander, Ethical Impact L3C

2. About Me
• Kathryn Alexander, MA,
President, CEO Ethical Impact
L3C
• Started out working with change,
then leadership & beliefs, then
culture, values & ethics
• Sustainability is a passion
• Agile = Teams,
Culture Games = Tribes,
Sustainability = Enterprise

3. Understanding Culture
• Culture Models = the ability to predict behavior ~
GeertHofstede
• Levels of culture = national, gender, generational,
family, organizational
• “Greatness” = values that are interconnected/values
as systems ~Software for Your Head
• Birds of a Feather™ = tacit beliefs and world view,
Values Sets™ = tacit and professed values as
systems.
©Ethical Impact, L3C

4. Four Major Cultures
• Command and Control
• Fear-based
• Competitive
• Competition-based
• Collaborative
• Learning-based
• Innovative
• Creativity-based
©Ethical Impact, L3C

5. There are Three Major Drivers That
Create Corporate Culture
The four cultures are created by:
• Hidden Individual Needs
• Lived Values
• Agreements
• Tacit
• Conscious
©Ethical Impact, L3C

6. Hidden Individual Needs
• Form the context for listening and understanding
others behavior
• Each level needs to be fulfilled before the next can
be accessed (motivation)
• Can change with the situation
• Are expressed by the Birds of a Feather Model™
©Ethical Impact, L3C

7. Bird’s of a Feather™
• Assessment looks at what exists (Current) and what
is desired (Ideal)
• Shows the hidden agreements and the difference
between the professed and the tacit
©Ethical Impact, L3C

8. Canaries
• Need to feel safe
• Look for concerns
• Self preservation focus
• Flight or fight
• Address their needs
and everyone is better
off
• Culture of paranoia
©Ethical Impact, L3C

9. Penguins
• Safety is in the rules
• Obedience is to be
praised
• Respect authority
• Creativity is suspect
• Revert to Canaries if
scared
• Culture of stability
©Ethical Impact, L3C

10. Eagles
• Love control
• Want to WIN
• Creatively get their
own way
• Insist on obedience
• Need to be recognized
• Culture of competition
©Ethical Impact, L3C

11. Barn Swallows
• Love teams
• Work for the group
• Learning is key
• Diversity is a way of life
• Emotions are important
• Culture of collaboration
©Ethical Impact, L3C

12. Swans
• Creativity and self-
expression are key
• Self-directed
• Love to achieve goals
and make you happy -
their way
• Personal satisfaction
over status and stuff
• Culture of innovation
©Ethical Impact, LLC

13. Small Groups
• Groups of 5
• Count off 1-5
• 1=
• Situation – Sell the group on implementing Agile
• Check in as your Bird
• What’s going on with you
• How you feel (sad, mad, glad, afraid)
• “I’m in”
©Ethical Impact, L3C

14. Debrief
• What did you learn?
• What did you learn about safety?
• What did you learn about respect?
• What did you learn about courage?
• What did you learn about truth?
• Other insights?
©Ethical Impact, L3C

15. Your Values
 Strength  Honesty  Right Relationship
 Loyalty  Inventivenes  No Waste
 Honor s  Empowerment
 Initiation  Thrift  Interdependence
 Tradition  Optimism
 Balance
 Skill  Productivity
 Nurturing
 Negotiation
Rank these on a scale of 1-5, 5 = most important.
You may have as many five’s as you wish.
©Ethical Impact, L3C

16. Three Systems of Values
• Protective – the oldest
• Loyalty
• Effective – business’ natural place
• Honesty
• Sustainable – how nature functions
• All actions create the conditions that support Life
Doing What’s Right: Natural Values for Business– on website
©Ethical Impact, L3C

17. It’s All a System
©Ethical Impact, L3C

18. Resources
• http://www.ethicalimpact.com
• CODE: CULTURECON2012 = 30% discount until Oct 15
• Leadership & Culture Assessment = 1 free
• Sustainable Values Set® = 1 free
• Other things of interest
• Get these slides
• Weekly Reflections
• Resilience Institute membership
• Evolution of Culture: Workbook
• Doing What’s Right: Natural Values for Business
• Coaching
©Ethical Impact, L3C