Organisational culture is real, powerful and in no way optional, as it is ubiquitous and, a fundamental part of what makes us human. It defines and binds, it shapes our institutions and will largely determine our futures. It influences the behaviour of everyone within a group, no matter how large or small. Its power lies in the fact that people unconsciously behave very differently when part of a group than they normally would as individuals.

An image that is often associated with leadership is that of a skein of geese. We often see the goose at the front with the others following in a perfect V-shape, as analogous with leadership and followership. This is certainly how many CEOs would like to visualise their role as leaders, forging ahead and providing a clear sense of direction for the rest. In reality however, modern, matrixed companies are self-organising entities within which culture will inevitably emerge rather than be consciously created. This could mean doing things that they would usually consider unthinkable, unethical or immoral, or conversely, it could also mean acting in ways which are driven by altruism and a strong sense of accountability and shared purpose. Despite its power to determine such critical outcomes, we consistently fail in our attempts to understand and proactively change organisational culture. This is because we have failed to grasp how cultures work and the role of leadership in their creation and change. This has meant that increasingly common organisational failures and scandals have more often resulted in blanket denials and a circling of the wagons than any meaningful attempts to expose and address their cultural roots.

Collective behaviour within a large group can be mainly created in two distinct ways. Firstly, through a top-down command and control mechanism, typified by a leader directing and marshalling proceedings, with their followers dutifully complying with their instructions and modelling their behaviour. The second is through self-organisation within the group, with each individual influencing and being influenced by those around them. When we look at how culture works within complex organisations, it is abundantly clear that it is this second mechanism through which cultures are largely created and reinforced. In terms of culture, people within organisations are not like these compliant and predictable geese, they are more like starlings – unremarkable in most respects – but when flocking in large numbers, collectively transform into an extraordinary swarm called murmuration. It is an unforgettably mesmeric display. The mechanics of the murmuration have been the subject of considerable research over the years. Recent research has shown that although a murmuration may look like a coordinated whole, each individual bird is merely tracking the movement of its seven closest neighbours, to the exclusion of everything, else by following three simple rules: If you’re too close to a neighbour, move away, if you’re too far away from a neighbour, move towards them and fly in the same direction as your immediate neighbours. These basic rules, when followed by each individual, produce the beautiful and mesmerising complexity of the murmuration. The groups of seven overlap, meaning that movements are transmitted right across the flock in an organic and seamless way.

Collective group behaviour like this does of course have a distinct purpose as it confers considerable benefits to the individuals within the group. It takes a brave, or stupid bird to ignore its fellow starlings and set off on a path of its own. It risks being separated from its comrades to find itself at the mercy of the hawks who patrol the fringes of the flock. It is believed that the mesmeric power of the murmuration confuses predators by making targeting and zeroing in on an individual much more difficult than would otherwise be the case. Closely matching the movements of its neighbours also means that an individual bird can respond to threats without ever needing to be aware of them. It just takes one neighbour to spot a hawk and take evasive action, or for it to mirror the behaviour of one of their neighbours who has reacted the same, to cause the individual to also avoid being eaten, even when it is completely unaware of the danger it is in.

As an analogy, murmuration works very well when applied to organisational culture. They illustrate how thinking of culture as something that’s done to you is only a small part of the story. The actions of each individual are collectively responsible for creating, reinforcing or changing culture. They also show how the least risky option can most often be seen as to do as your colleagues do. The parallels with organisational culture are obvious. Much as many of our business leaders would like to think of themselves as akin to the leader of the orchestra – whose every swoop and twitch of the baton is followed intently by each musician – we know the reality is very different. In organisations the result is much more the organised chaos of the murmuration rather than the coordinated harmony of a symphony, or a predictably V-shaped skein. In a murmuration, the individual birds are responding to local cues and have absolutely no knowledge of or consideration for the murmuration itself. The starlings are just doing what they do, while inadvertently and collectively creating something much bigger than themselves, something infinitely more intricate and powerful than the sum of its parts. In the same way, individuals within an organisation experience culture through personal interactions, with a relatively small number of local managers and team members.

Despite the fact that culture is formed by their collective behaviours with peers, most employees do not consider culture as something that they have any direct control over, let alone something they are actively creating through everything they do. They are also largely unaware of the profound impact that the behaviour of others is having on their own behaviour. The murmuration also provides a great example for anyone reluctant to consider it feasible for anything as seemingly complex as organisational culture to be distilled down to very simple building blocks.

We have all seen those amazing images on programmes, of millions of anchovies gliding through the sea in shimmering shoals. We have also seen those shoals being mercilessly attacked from all sides by gannets, predatory fish, sea lions and most impressively, humpback whales which construct ever[1]decreasing circular curtains of bubbles that concentrate the shoal so that thousands of anchovies may be swallowed in a single gulp. This is when shoal becomes bait ball, when the advantages of sticking together become a distinct disadvantage. People are of course different in that they have the capacity to adapt their behaviour when circumstances dictate. But recognising what behaviour change is required and when is not always easy. Both awareness of the situation and awareness of the current behavioural deficiencies of the group is crucial in allowing both people and organisations to adapt to change. Without cultural self-awareness, many decisions will be reflex, conditioned responses, based on the narrow parameters of what we have always done around here. This stifles creativity and prevents the development of a capacity to adapt to new and unfamiliar circumstances. The formation of a bait ball is the fishy equivalent of circling the wagons. Neither tactic tends to turn out well.

This is an edited extract from Counting the Dance Steps; Rethinking how we measure and change organisational cultures for the good of all by Andrew Cocks. Published by Conflux Publishing

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