Page 41 - The Complexity Perspective 20 02 18

 Cultural Manipulation: Cultures can be deliberately and
consciously manipulated through a number of means

particularly by those individuals in power.
o Change the people: Changing the people mix by mass
firings or shifting the hiring criteria will change the

underlying human interactions. Changing the people is
perhaps the most powerful way of affecting culture. Of
curse, it has practical implications (legal, cost) and as a
tool of culture change it always runs up against embedded

behaviors in those who were not changed. So it has its
limits.
o Change the Symbols: At its simplest, this could be an

‘Employee of the Month’ idea, which signals behaviors that
will be rewarded with status and perhaps money.
o Myths and Legends: Every organization has a ‘golden
age’ when everything went right. Reach back and use it as a

framing device.
o Introduce or Amend Traditions: All traditions were
invented at some point, e.g., the introduction of Christmas

trees into the UK by Prince Albert in the mid-1800s.
o Reshape the Command Structure: Empowering
employees as long as it is real or introducing self-
organization can have a real impact. If it is later reversed,

the impact can be heavily negative.
o Involvement Systems: Here ‘the people’ are involved in
the creation of goals and direction of the organization. This

is a step up from self-organization, examples being
Workers’ Councils.
 The Persistence over Time Effect: The effect of time is

certainly analogous to what happens in the context. As the firm
grows, it evolves a way of operating and people ‘rubbing along’
that is influenced by the goals of the system, the demands of the
technical system, the mix of employees and the values and

beliefs they bring with them, and even the emotional connection

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