The best metaphor I have encountered for an intentional organisational culture is that of a garden. A garden holds the promise of growth, of future yields, of plenty. When tended with care, this garden will produce succulent fruit, lush greenery, and nourishment for us to enjoy. If cultivated with foresight, this garden is a thing of beauty and promise, delivering more than you put in, many times over, generously giving back for all the care and attention that has been bestowed on it.
The flip side of that story is not a dry, barren space.
The flip side is one where your piece of land generously gives back that which you did not intend. Imagine a garden filled with nature’s generous helping of unwanted plants that compete for sunlight and nutrients and harbour insects that are harmful to the plants that we want to grow.
Each garden is full of life, life generously bestowed by mother earth. The keen eye of the gardener is what determines the difference.
It is the same with organisational culture. Because of careful tending, our organisational culture produces the rewards of healthy communication, relationship-building and effective teamwork; or, due to less-than-conscientious attention, gives back the unwanted fruits of miscommunication, office gossip, conflict, and mistrust.
As a leader, you have a choice – does your ‘garden’ produce the harvest of intentional and careful input or the results of inattention and carelessness?
There are many ways to grow your intentional organisational culture, starting with genuinely engaging, planting and tending carefully for your future culture together. Want to do some work around this with your team? Why not get in touch with us?