Strategy is the design on the org chart that shows who you talk to in order to get things done. Culture is who you actually talk to in order to actually get things done.
Here’s the thing about org charts. They are mostly designed to take the people who know the most stuff and put them at the top. That, and they are designed to elevate the people who get the most done and win most frequently. Then the organization runs through those who know the most and those who get the most done through their individual efforts.
That would be great, if things actually got done in a linear fashion, in an organization.
But really getting things done is messy. It involves going to whomever you need in the moment to get what you need “right now.” And when you need it “right now” you go to the people in the organization with whom you have trust, flexibility, and shared experience. Basically, you go where you have some “relationship equity” and you trade on the affinity and relatedness you have with that person. And they will bend the rules for you because they know you are doing it for the right reasons, that you mean well, and they also know you will do it for them next time.
Add to that the fact that people are not rational but we expect them to behave in rational ways. I “know” I’m supposed to talk to that person, but I don’t like them, so I’ll send my friend, who can tolerate them, to pass on the message on my behalf. And then the friend thinks “I can’t keep enabling you, but just this once since it seems so stressful for you.” And then the third person in the chain thinks “why is this person talking to me when it’s not even their problem? They are really messed up in that other department.”
When people say that work gets done in the white space between the org chart, they mean that people will talk to those they are comfortable with, with whom they self-identify, and those that appear safe or sympathetic to them.
Leaders jobs are to focus on how things get done and then enable the power and speed with which it happens.
How much of your time and attention as a leader are you purposefully spending on the part of the organization, the culture, that really gets things done?
