ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

380 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIPcompany functioned also represented this same paradox—strongindividualism with, at the same time, a strong sense of communityand a commitment to working together in groups to solve problems.Their respect for groups was confirmed in a meeting in which Iwas advising two young managers on the design of a one-week middle-managementcourse. I suggested the use of one of the group survivalexercises that illustrates clearly how groups can solve someobjective problems better than individuals. I was told that they hadused this exercise in the past but that participants routinely askedwhy their time was being wasted, since they were already convincedthat groups could do better than individuals in problem solving!One might also speculate that group work had such importanceat Ciba-Geigy because it was virtually the only form of lateral communicationavailable in the company. The sensitivities that might beoperating if managers from one division offered help to or asked forhelp from another division could be overcome, with faces saved, if atask force consisting of members of both divisions adopted a processof taking turns reporting to each other on the progress of effective andineffective interventions. The listener could then learn and get newideas without either identifying himself as a problem or having othersidentify him as a target of their input. Group meetings thus preservedface all the way around.It was also recognized that groups helped to build commitmentto projects even though the implementation system was essentiallyhierarchical. If groups had discussed the issue, the hierarchy workedmore smoothly, as in the Japanese system, where consensus issought before a decision is announced. In various ways the redirectionproject was using the cultural strengths of the company andwas redefining its formal procedures in order to deal with the businessproblem without changing the culture overtly.Second Year:Consolidation of the Redirection ProjectDuring my several visits following the second annual meeting, Iworked on three important areas. First, I made myself available to