Organizational drift aids in avoiding discomfort and repeating history. Most people call it “culture” we call it “drift.” What is “drift”? Imagine that you are swimming in a river and stop to float, what direction your body will move in? The direction of the current of course! You will “drift” away. It is the same with an organization – they all have their own drift – it is “how things work around here.” The tendency in organizations is to maintain the status quo; drift maintains the status quo. In most organizations drift is very strong. There is a “no change here” attitude. If you try to change things, it helps to know that this ogre will rear its ugly head and, if it can, eat you. Now there is a visual.
Handle the drift as if you were trapped in a canoe grabbed by a rip tide and being pulled out to sea. Grab a paddle and then begin to paddle at an angle, not directly against the tide, so that eventually you can break free.
When dealing with the drift of an organization adopts a similar strategy. Honor the drift and at the same time introduce strong corporate initiatives that will allow the organization to lay new track and move in a new direction. Examples of these kinds of initiatives would be serious adoption of lean manufacturing, breakthrough business planning or adoption of the Keyne Method of dramatically improving organizational performance.
Interesting article, particularly the concept of drift you describe… Certainly individual and organizational resistance to change is well known. Frankly, I think it is a good thing. There should be a clear and compelling answer to the question, “why change?” for a change to be supported. Sounds good to me… The advantage open book companies have is that the economics of the business are broadly understood, so changes that improve the economics are more readily embraced.
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