"We’re looking for new innovative ways of doing things..."
"We are a highly collaborative organization..."
" Our work is dictated by process..."
" Our staff is goal-oriented..."
Most of us have likely made or mostly heard at least one of these statements, each of which are indicative of an implicit value contained within our organizations’ cultures. The issue, however, is that some of these values are in opposition to each other. So, while we may have said these things, hopefully it was not in the same breath.
Welcome to the world of the Competing Values Framework
A tool that allows organizations to assess their internal culture.
The contemporary definition of organizational culture (OC) includes :
- What is valued,
- The dominant leadership style,
- The language and symbols,
- The procedures and routines, and
- The definitions of success that characterizes an organization.
OC represents the values, underlying assumptions, expectations, collective memories, and definitions present in an organization.
Cameron and Quinn (1999) have developed one of the most influential and extensively used models in the area of organizational culture research built upon a theoretical model called the "Competing Values Framework (CVF)."
This framework refers to whether an organization has a predominant internal or external focus and whether it strives for flexibility and individuality or stability and control.
In addition the framework authors generated an "Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)" which is used to identify the organizational culture profile based on the core values, assumptions, interpretations, and approaches that characterize organizations.
The four quadrants of the following matrix represent each of the “competing values” (or the dominant culture types) within an organization.
The YELLOW “collaborate” quadrant represents values like loyalty, communication and human development.
The BLUE “compete” quadrant whose focus is on goal achievement, customer-focus and profitability. This is at odds with the values inherent in the Yellow section.
The RED “control” quadrant emphasize consistency, policies and process.
The GREEN “create” quadrant, which is all about innovation, agility and vision. This is in opposition to the Red quadrant
An additional take on the tensions inherent in the framework can be found along its axes.
The horizontal axis maps an organization’s focus, with the quadrants on the left focusing primarily inside the organization and those on the right looking externally at customers and the outside environment.
The Vertical axis maps where decisions are made. The bottom quadrants represent a more hierarchical culture where control rests with the management.
In the top quadrants you’ll find a more distributed leadership in which employees are more empowered to make decisions
There is no recipe for the perfectly plotted organizational diagram. In fact, the organization’s shape should not be a constant. The idea is that as an organization grows and changes, so too must these competing values.
The more organizations seek to be agile and innovative (Green), the more they must let go of some control and consistency (Red). If they are looking to move more quickly and focus more externally (Blue), they will not be able to be as collaborative an organization (Yellow).
Plotting the points in the quadrants, however, is only part of the process – the easy part. The framework is best used as the starting point for discussion. For some organizations, the team came together to compare and discuss the mapped values. The tool gave them a common language that allowed them to talk in a neutral way about the current state of our culture and what values and characteristics the organization needed to move ahead. This allowed folks at all levels to feel comfortable voicing their opinion.
In the video below, National Arts Strategies (NAS) President and CEO, Russell Willis Taylor talk about his experience using the Competing Values Framework.
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