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Understanding Culture
The Human Element:
"The essential elements of culture are invisible. They are taken for granted and have dropped out of awareness. But they can be brought back into awareness. Failure to understand culture and take it seriously can have disastrous consequences for an organization. Superficial understanding of culture can be as dangerous as no understanding at all."
(Edgar Schein, 1999)
Understanding individuals and the subsequent organizational system is only part of the equation, it is the profound understanding of "culture" that is needed to take a group of disparate people and turn them into a highly effective and cohesive team capable of extraordinary achievement. As individuals combine to focus more energy on completing tasks so the organization can become more profitable and successful, they inadvertently create a hybrid of a more successful culture.
Wherever a group has enough successful history or common experience, a culture begins to form. Cultures are patterns of interacting elements such as behaviors, thought patterns, ways of perceiving, and values. For instance, "for profit" corporations think and behave differently than those who work at community colleges. One can't create change without a thorough understanding of the current culture and the knowledge to help the organization successfully evolve as a whole.
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