An Organizational Culture Parable

Long ago in the land of Metallasso[1] two industrious and hard working brothers set off from the secure home of their father and mother to make their way in the world. Thad and Chad were equal in every respect. They were of the same size, strength, and intelligence.  They shared a common upbringing. They both possessed the values and work ethic of their parents. Along the journey they came upon a fork in the road and took their leave of one another. Thad ventured down the road to the East. Chad chose the road leading West. Thad eventually settled in the Eastern kingdom of Douloo[2] to make his living. To the West, Chad settled in the province of Exousia.[3]

Ten years later we find Thad living a life of frustration in Douloo. His zeal for hard work has given way to apathy. The joy of enterprise he once held has now become a drudgery of tasks to be performed in order to sustain his living. Meanwhile, in Exousia, Chad’s zest for life has increased. He wakes up every morning eager to join fellow workers in their daily tasks. He has been inspired toward greater creativity and has been aptly rewarded for his diligence. What has made such a stark difference in the dispositions of these two workers who began with an equal expectation of promise? The answer lies in the societies each of them became citizens of—the organizations they became members of—the companies they became employees of.

In this little parable I have given meaningful Greek names to the places where these two brothers lived. Metallasso is a word meaning change. Their story begins with change as many of our own stories do. As we travel the road of our own lives we will experience much change—new places, new experiences, new environments, new challenges. Some change may be hard for us yet good for our own growth and maturity. Some change is entirely intolerable and should not be settled for. The brothers in the story above were leaving the home of their upbringing to find dwellings of their own. Thad settled in Douloo, meaning bondage and servitude. Chad found his place in Exousia, meaning freedom of action, empowerment. The cultures they became a part of made an enormous difference in the fulfillment they found in life.

As leaders, what type of culture have we fostered in the organizations we lead? Do the members of your company feel like servants who are dictated to and are just there to do the work with little or no input of their own? Does your organization value your members and empower them to act and to be creative? What is the culture of your business? What would you like for it to be?       

As illustrated in the story of Thad and Chad, environments that foster individual freedoms and creativity toward a common shared purpose fare far better than hierarchal systems that tend to merely use employees rather than value them. As leaders we have much say so in whether we create a domain of Douloo or a community of Exousia. If you find yourself as Thad in a place of unfulfilling drudgery and you are not in a position to effect significant change, perhaps it’s time to exercise your freedom to travel down a different road. We still live in a free America so you are at liberty to choose.

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[1] metallasso:  Greek— from meta, “implying change” and allasso, “to make other than it is,” “to transform, change,” “to change one thing for another, or into another,” change.

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)    

[2] douloo:  Greek— “to make a slave of, to bring into bondage,” to be denied freedom or liberty – servitude.

                (ibid.)

[3] exousia:  Greek— “freedom of action, right to act,” “authority,” empowerment

                (ibid.)

Construction of Culture

I have always tended to think of culture in terms of societies—"the ideas, customs, skills, arts, etc. of a people or group that are transferred, communicated, or passed along, as in or to succeeding generations" (Webster's). This certainly is one dictionary definition of culture. However, the first definition of the word culture actually has to do with "cultivation of the soil" (Webster's). Culture then, I may surmise, first has to do with a preparing of an environment with conditions for growth.

In the book, Leadership that Matters by Sashkin and Sashkin, we find a new way of defining and measuring leadership. The authors discuss how leaders may construct or cultivate the conditions for living in and growing an organization. "There are three basic ways that leaders construct culture, that is, define values and beliefs and make them 'live' in the actions of people in an organization" (122). These three ways are . . .

• Define the organizational philosophy.
• Develop policies, programs and procedures to carry out the philosophy.
• Personally model the philosophy by actions and practices. (121)*

I have seen the value of these concepts in serving as a pastor. For example, in my last pastorate, together with the leadership of the church, we defined our vision and mission for the church and the community. We identified our core values as a people. We began measuring every program of the church against our vision, mission and values. Those programs that were not in alignment with the stated philosophy were dropped or re-focused. As the pastor, I tried to model the vision in my teaching, preaching and actions.

At the time, I never thought of these steps as "constructing culture".  In retrospect, I see that is precisely what we were doing. The word culture in this particular church was significant. Specifically, this was a long-standing southern white church in a community that over the years had become largely Hispanic. Our vision and goals were to reach our community for Christ. To do this, we had to become multi-cultural; that is, we had to create or cultivate a culture that was conducive to growth of people of different societal backgrounds (mostly Southern Caucasians and Mexican Latinos).

Understanding that we were not merely blending cultures but actually constructing an environment conducive to growth for the people God had called us to reach, offered a fresh perspective of the challenges in building Christ's church in a multi-cultural community. 

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* Sashkin, M. and Sashkin M.G., Leadership that Matters, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.