Before People managing company culture can think of creating a new culture, it is first essential to understand what the organisational culture is and if it’s a new organisation being created, what is the purpose of the new organisation and what kind of culture needs to be created to lead to success.
When deciding to develop or create a new existing workplace culture or try to alter organisational cultures – from legacy companies, it’s first essential to remember that not everybody will be a pro-culture change.
The reason for the negativity, according to Simon Sinek, Is that “ existing structures benefit the people that worked in established cultures, ” this is not to say they are hindering change, but the culture that already exists as is led to their professional success and changing the culture could lead to a loss of their status or at worst losing their position.
The brain economy
The paragraph above may seem slightly doom and gloom and an old versus the new mentality that is not the intention of this blog purely to make sure that this information does not just give the reader the facts but that the information can be understood and balanced between the pros and the cons.
A good analogy of this could be individuals drinking too much Cola Cola could lead to diabetes. Still, there is also a positive because energy drinks can give people sugar rushes. There are positives and negatives when creating new cultures in the workplace.
The United Kingdom and the developed world have seen a fundamental change in how people work and the industries people have been working in since manufacturing in the developed nations has moved to the developing world like China.
This has meant that the workforce is moving from a manufacturing economy to a services economy with a growth in the creative industries.
In Great Britain, over 3.04 million people now work in the creative economy. This shows that a new approach to company culture is not just necessary but essential for continued growth and long-term organisational survival.
The culture must move from traditional manufacturing with managers dictating workers’ mentality towards a more creative and collaborative work environment to create more effective products and services.
However, organisations and companies should not mistake creativity, and the sharing of ideas as losing control of an organisation nor should companies surrender their control to the workers and the overall objective of their organisation.
Companies need to maximise profit for their survival, not to become places of leisure or debating societies.
What creative idea sharing is intended for is an empowered and educated workforce that works in tandem with team leaders, managers or people with the vision to create products, services or other creative endeavours that lead to better outcomes. The objective is to generate profit that is more viable in the 21st century and away from the ways of thinking that don’t have a place in a creative environment.
However, they are still the bread-and-butter of low-skilled labour positions and manufacturing; there’s a reason why the old way has been in use since the 19th century, and that is it works for the traditional non-creative workspace.
Choose your options
When making the organisational decision to create an idea-sharing work environment, it would be necessary to set the objective of the sharing between managers and these creatives that must be in partnership with the overall organisational objectives.
For example, it would be silly for profits and sales-orientated companies to be full of Leninists and Marxists because the two are highly logically and culturally opposed.
The second factor to consider is the needs of the company. Does your company or work method require creativity and idea sharing, or is that not the case? It may be best to stick with the traditional models; however, there is a blurring between creative thinking and traditional jobs.
Companies like Lloyds banking group or other banking organisations require UX design thinking when developing their computer systems and a successful omnichannel.
This means creative idea sharing must be incorporated to function as a business. With idea sharing now becoming a necessity, a limited culture change may be necessary if an organisation meets the criteria where creative thinking and being an independent thinker are required for the organisation to be successful in trials.
To reiterate, the ultimate decision is whether or not creative idea sharing is necessary for your organisation and if the management is willing to make changes.
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