Collective philosophy

By Kim Jong-nam

I am currently involved in eight consulting projects for which I am helping to create organizational cultures. The projects involve such topics as trust building, growth enhancement, performance creation, and ethics, among others.

One of the most difficult things about these projects is defining what these concepts truly mean. Words like "trust," "growth," "performance" and "ethics" sound very familiar to us, but if we are asked to provide the exact meaning of any of these words, it's harder than it may seem. For example, how do you identify "trust"? How can we build it? Through what behaviors? How do organizational systems support or destroy trust? The same goes for "growth." What does growth mean? How can growth be created? Who should encourage what behaviors? How can HR systems aid growth and through what specific actions?

Thus, when building a culture, it is essential that leaders have a philosophy about what they need to target, what they want to target, and what they should target. This philosophy should be clearly shared with the rest of the organization and adopted as a collective philosophy.

How much leaders know about their industry is also crucial to creating a desirable organizational culture. In order to create a culture, leaders must become knowledgeable about topics and aware of factors that it was previously okay for them to not know much about. There are several questions that leaders must be able to answer. Why does their industry exist? What are the success factors that are critical for their industry? What types of talents does their industry want? What do their customers want to obtain? Who is best suited to changing the culture for an organization in this particular industry? What are the main characteristics of these people?

Answering these questions is like excavating gemstones buried at the bottom of the industry. This work is only possible when leaders can penetrate the essence of their industry; doing so is like getting the blueprint for their culture re-design. In the dictionary, the definition of "essence" is "a property or properties of something without which it would not exist or be as it is."

For example, what will financial companies need in order for them to exist safely over 20 or 30 years? It is easy to toss out a few probable answers; however, when we dig deeper, these are actually difficult questions. Is this "essence" financial gains? Or is it stability? Trust? Investment possibilities? And where will this "essence" come from? Going further, if we begin thinking about what a good financial institution looks like, the exercise becomes tougher―and if we specify trustworthy financial institutions, it becomes tougher still. The cultural image that the organization targets will vary in accordance with the conceptual definition that the organization chooses. When the desired cultural identity becomes different, their approaches become different.

Of course, merely going through philosophical contemplation does not guarantee the design of a good organizational culture because this definition must be connected to the current reality. However, whether leaders are able to define what they truly want and what traits they need to pursue in their industry is one of the most difficult and important steps in order to create a culture that they will want.

Just like human beings, organizations need to be philosophical if they want to live a life full of true meaning. If human beings do not know what they want in their lives, it is difficult to feel fulfillment―and the same goes for organizations. This is only possible when organizational members, including executives as well as rank-and-file members, have sufficient time to think about and observe not only themselves but also the industry.

The more they understand these characteristics and essences, the closer they can approach to the future they truly want. That is why having a collective philosophy is important when creating a culture.

Kim Jong-nam is the founding CEO of META (www.imeta.co.kr) and the author of three books on organizational culture and leadership. He works as an organizational development consultant globally. He has an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, as well as in Seoul.

Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn
Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn