Tending the lily pond

A metaphor often used when talking about organisational culture is that suggested by Professor Schein in early editions of his seminal book Organizational Culture and Leadership: the iceberg. Culture is like the part of the iceberg that is under the water – it is hard to see, it is not obvious, and yet it represents 90% of the critical mass of the ice mountain and dictates how the iceberg responds to ocean currents. The part above the water represents the organisational climate – how people feel about being part of the organisation (this includes employee engagement, satisfaction and other individual level outcomes of culture) and what they think they see going on (teamwork, influence, clarity of purpose, perceptions of fairness and equity, diversity management etc.). The above-water organisational climate is easy to see, and shipping vessels can develop strategies around ‘using it’ – avoiding it and maintaining a safe course. But captains and navigators need to be aware of the possibility that the underwater section may well protrude beyond the outer edges of the surface part, so they cannot assume that what is under the surface is the same shape as that above the surface. It is a strong image, and yet there is something threatening about it. After all, the first association that many of us make with an iceberg is the sinking of the Titanic. Perhaps this is why, in later editions, Professor Schein introduced a new metaphor – the lily pond. Like the iceberg, the lily pond has something going on at the surface level that you can see. In this analogy, the lily farmer can feed and tend the lilies and see how well they are growing. The farmer can judge the quality of the colour and the size in their efforts to grow the very best lilies. But what the lily farmer cannot see so easily is what is going on under the surface. Are there toxic algae growing on the river or lake floor? What is the quality of the water that feeds into the river or lake? Is there something going on down there that could destroy the lilies? Will the river or lake provide a sustainable long-term base for lily farming? An important aspect of this new metaphor is that it recognises that culture can and does change. Although what’s going on beneath the surface may not be obvious, it can be ‘managed’, and strategies can be put in place to improve it, if necessary. The metaphor also allows us to see more clearly where the chief of staff is uniquely positioned to monitor and manage the relationship between culture and climate – and what they can do if they sense that things are in danger of coming unstuck. Key cultural foundations such as purpose, mission, vision, and values are typically agreed by senior leadership and ratified by the board before being cascaded down through the organisation via whatever communications channels are available. Even at an early stage, it is useful to have someone to ‘sense check’ and challenge this formal articulation of what senior figures believe and want the organisational culture to be. For example, if vision and mission statements are all oriented towards shareholder wealth, however much management may try to insist that ‘customer service’ is a core value and an integral part of the organisation’s culture, people will continue to believe that it’s all about profitability. Or perhaps the organisation has launched its core values with great fanfare and publicised them on the website and all over office walls and elevators; but when asked, top executives can’t even remember what they are. If top teams do not spot these contradictions themselves, the chief of staff is probably the only person with the right level of influence and – crucially – diplomatic skills to suggest that they rethink.