Unlocking business potential: The power of outside perspective

In our communication with potential clients, we often encounter the position articulated in the title of this piece. This is especially true for large companies that have their own extensive HR departments. Their argument is simple: we have our own specialists to whom we pay well to perform the same functions you propose to sell us. However, they do not consider the “point of effort application” – it matters where exactly these functions are executed: from within the company or externally. This determines how the functions will be carried out (which approach the performers will use) and how the results of their execution will impact the company.

We want to forewarn you that this piece may come across as somewhat academic, and it might be challenging to grasp if you are not familiar, even superficially, with the basic theory of Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck. The perspective on social dynamics presented here is based on the work “Ascending Spiral” by Mark Roisin, who has significant experience in applying Spiral Dynamics in constructing corporate structures for dozens of major Russian companies over the past 15 years and has refined Beck’s theory specifically for business use. We recommend familiarizing yourself with this work if you want the terminology used in the material to be completely understandable to you. In any case, we will be happy to address any questions that arise as you read the article, so feel free to ask them to better comprehend the material.

The World of Corporate Bubbles

Having observed various teams and entire companies for a considerable amount of time, we have become convinced that they are akin to individual persons, possessing similar behavioral patterns and perceptual distortions. Just as an individual (their brain) strives to reassure themselves of their integrity and consistency despite everything, a human community endeavors to create an imaginary world within itself, where it only does the right things and moves in the correct direction.

This phenomenon is particularly true for communities with a radically critical stance towards failure or non-compliance with accepted rituals and traditions. Cultures of Belonging (with their unwavering traditions), Power (with their cult of the one and only right way of thinking), Rules (with their fanatic adherence to established rules), and Success (with their non-acceptance of outsiders) sooner or later find themselves facing the reality that the internal perception of the community no longer aligns with reality. Everyone seems to think that everything is fine and in line with the culture, but this is not because it is actually so, but because discrepancies are masterfully concealed by those who are aware of them, so as not to become the bearer of bad news and face consequences. And when the mechanism of concealment is well-established, an alternative culture thrives under its cover, which can significantly differ from the imagined one.

We have many historical examples where something similar happened to entire countries, ultimately leading to their disintegration due to the collapse of the dominant cultural paradigm and the emergence of hidden alternative cultures. For instance, the notorious Soviet Union was dismantled through the joint efforts of the dissident pro-Western cultural paradigm and the corrupt paradigm of the authorities and criminality. Unfortunately, similar processes occur in any human community with a closed, isolationist cultural paradigm.

Maintaining Form in the Corporate Bubble

How can a corporate bubble maintain its shape? Each type of corporate culture employs its own methods and mechanisms of self-defense and self-preservation. In “rigid” cultures, this responsibility falls under the domain of the internal security service. Their task is to identify centers of alternative thinking and eliminate them. Such cultures cannot tolerate even a minute presence of a slightly alternative view of reality within them. If you disagree with corporate policies on certain matters, do not adhere to corporate standards, or do not defend your corporate “family” despite all principles, you will be fired and possibly punished. An alternative view is equated with betrayal of “our own”: “if you think we might be wrong, someday you’ll stand on the side of our enemy.”

In softer cultures, the “surgical” approach is replaced with a “therapeutic” one. HR departments start to oversee cultural integrity, and those who think differently are given time for re-education. You can see things differently than what is accepted in the community, and you may even refrain from participating in collective cultural activities such as team-building if you deliver results and follow important corporate rules. However, be prepared for scrutiny of your results, and they will try to replace you with someone more loyal at the first opportunity. This is more pronounced in Rules-based culture, but the Success culture also retains remnants of such an approach, despite being more tolerant of rule and standard violations for the sake of results.

Open cultures (starting from the Opportunities culture) do not need to fight for their integrity due to their orientation towards constant exploration and change. In fact, the quantity of alternative views is a measure of the potential for success. However, even they require monitoring and diagnosing the state of the community they comprise. Typically, these cultures adhere to a “holistic” approach, where any new formations and deviations are seen as part of the system and a result of its functioning. They do not require intervention in and of themselves but indicate the state of the system as a whole and its direction.

Outside the Bubble

No matter what kind of system we look at, it must have a mechanism for self-reflection — forming an objective view of its existing structure, state, and processes. Attempts to implement this mechanism within the system yield worse results, the more rigid the culture of this system is, primarily due to the factors outlined in the previous sections. However, they are not the only ones affecting the quality of the result; there is also a complex and implicit functional and human interdependence between controlling and controlled units. Moreover, these relationships can range from those creating immediate personal interest to completely hidden factors, such as the positive correlation of work quality indicators.

The heterogeneity of culture within the bubble adds an additional layer of complexity. No company at any stage of its development looks like a monoculture. Typically, you can easily see elements of two, three, or perhaps even four types of cultures simultaneously, and they will be unevenly distributed — some structural elements will be more “modern,” while others more “archaic,” depending on the conditions they exist in. Depending on the stage of evolution the company is in, some types will prevail over others. The larger the company, the “longer” its culture will be on the Spiral. Only an unbiased external perspective can see the entire intricate distribution of the value components of corporate culture and the processes of interaction between them. Moreover, to properly comprehend this diversity, analyze it, and operate with it to aid in functioning and evolution, a specialist with a “yellow” value model according to Spiral Dynamics classification is required. Only at this level can one become a so-called “Master of the Spiral” and perceive it in all its complexity of interaction processes and development of cultures of different colors. Such specialists hardly ever emerge within widely spread corporate cultures because they do not adhere to any of them with their value model. For their existence, a special environment is needed, which is best created in consulting companies, the purpose of whose creation and functioning is to improve the ability to look from the outside at any structures.

So, if you want to get a truly valuable result that will elevate your business to a new level, not just create an illusion that everything is already great, you need an external consultant who understands the implementation of transformation processes within companies. It is impossible to understand the system while being inside it — this is a well-known scientific axiom. Moreover, in such conditions, it is impossible to change this system.

Conclusions

Taking all of the above into account, you have at least three compelling reasons to work with an external consultant:

• They see your corporate system from the outside (and this is their unique property that cannot be transferred inside).

• They are not a vested party and will objectively point out the shortcomings of the system and recommend breaking what really needs to be broken and building what really needs to be built.

• They possess certain abilities that most likely your employees do not have because they live in a different environment specific to people of this type.

  
  

We believe that this list is more than convincing, but you need to draw your own conclusions. Our task in this material was merely to present our vision and arguments.

© Createria Team, 2023