David Hanson writes, in LO18524,
How do you make these distinctions?
Climate = org. personality, Culture = patterns of behavior
Climate = biases, Culture = assumptions
Climate = hopes, Culture = beliefs
Climate = feeling tones, Culture = artifacts
It seems to me that an organization's climate may be a more short-term
reflection of the culture as it reacts to something, while the culture
shapes how that reaction is expressed. Culture, in this example, may be
the long-term "way" that decisions are organized, while climate would be
the decisions themselves.
I have worked for an organization that values originality and creativity;
it also values experienced members sharing with new members, helping them
succeed as a member of the organization. To use a simile, if there is no
reason to reinvent the wheel, don't, but if the wheel need to be put on a
different vehicle, do it and tell us how it works. That strikes me a an
aspect of culture, or a long-term way of acting. The organizational
climate is an expression of that culture. I adapted other people's work
to suit my needs; I shared my own ideas and activities and their outcomes.
Does that make sense? Words like feeling tones, biases, and hopes strike
me as being more flexible and emotive expressions than words like
artifacts or beliefs. I will experience a number of feelings and thoughts
about my work in a day, but my beliefs are not likely to change very often
during that day.
Dennis Presser pressd@mail.state.wi.us
Executive Policy and Budget Analyst Phone: (608)266-8777
State Budget Office Fax: (608)267-0372
101 E. Wilson, 10th Floor
Leadership is the ability of humans to relate deeply to each other in the
search for a more perfect union. Leadership is a consensual task, a sharing
of ideas and a sharing of responsibilities, where "leader" is a leader for
the moment only, where the leadership exerted must be validated by the
consent of followers, and where leadership lies in the struggles of a
community to find meaning for itself.
William F. Foster
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