Culture is like air; it’s everywhere and nowhere. Most of the time we are unaware of it but sometimes we become exquisitely aware of it. Recall, for example, the extraordinary level of air pollution in Beijing in January, 2014. !e air in Beijing became almost opaque, unusually toxic and a worldwide headline story.
Culture is ubiquitous
Similarly, much of an organisation’s culture is taken as a given. Like the air, people interact with it unthinkingly; they “breathe” it in and it impacts them, and as they exhale they impact the culture itself. Culture is, therefore, both exceedingly stable and potentially malleable.
Frequently, an organisation’s culture is relatively neutral; it has good aspects and not so good aspects. Sometimes a workplace culture can enhance how people do their work and get along with each other. Conversely, sometimes it can be exceedingly unhelpful, if not toxic.