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I start every one of my culture presentations with the following statement: “When you change the way you see the world, the world you see changes.” What I mean by that statement is that when we take an active role in changing not only how we perceive the world, but how we construct or put together the world outside of us, we begin to see things we previously could not see, we begin to understand things we previously could not understand, and we learn to adapt to change as it’s occurring or after the fact.
This week, I received a link to an article from a colleague of mine: Why "Company Culture" Is a Misleading Term by John Traphagan. Dr. John Traphagan is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the Program in Human Dimensions of Organizations at the University of Texas at Austin and faculty affiliate of the Population Research Center.
In his article, Dr. Traphagan states: “The problem here is that while we use the term 'culture' constantly, most of us give very little thought to what that term means and how its use influences behavior and thought within organizations.” He uses the Tylorian definition of culture as he explains further: "Culture is the values, practices, beliefs, etc. of a group of people. In other words, culture is everything; which basically means it’s nothing from an analytical perspective. The only really useful aspect of this definition is that culture involves groups (society) and that those groups share something.”
Dr. Traphagan and his readers would benefit greatly from changing the way they see the world. Culture has been very well defined and studied. While I would agree that there are many definitions of culture offered by a variety of authors, many authors, including myself, have offered definitions that are quite useful for analytical perspectives. Specifically, my definition of culture is: The beliefs (how we see the world), behavioral rules (the rules that govern our behavior), and traditions and rituals (things we do repeatedly, some as solemn rites) that bind people together. This definition certainly suggests that culture involves more than groups (society) and that those groups share more than just "something.” People within a specific culture (organizational or societal) share much more than something -- they share a common view of the world that drives their behavior in a unified, coherent, and specific direction.
If you doubt this definition helps make distinctions between society groups, consider what is going on right now with ISIS -- or the Islamic State. There are many that continue to argue that ISIS is a result of failed economies in the Middle East. That is indeed one view of the world. I prefer another.
The differences between ISIS and not only western society but also other Muslim societies is indeed a cultural difference (as defined by beliefs, behavioral rules, and traditions and rituals). Over the past year, there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of western and Muslim people who have made their way to Syria in order to fight with and for ISIS. They have been recruited with a simple message: Give up all you worldly possessions, give up your family, your loved ones, and everything you know is familiar to you. Come join us in a place where you will likely die on the battlefield and where you will belong to something larger than yourself (what I refer to as a “cause”), and be close to God.
ISIS has a very clear goal with a very well-defined culture as codified in Sharia Law. It is this well-defined culture that drives the behavior for its members and combatants. While this culture and Sharia Law can be seen as anachronistic -- from another time -- it is clearly seen as for this time by ISIS and its members. If we fail to understand that ISIS is a culture (not economic) -driven phenomenon, we do so at our own peril. This is why it is so important to understand the concept of culture.
Human beings are more than 99.9% genetically identical. This means that genetically, we are all related. The differences we see in each other, at work, in our own country, and across countries of this planet occur from less than 0.1% of genetic variation. The differences in behaviors occur because of differences in culture.
When society can create a unified culture that understands and values shared experiences, ties us together to something larger than ourselves, and prioritizes humanity -- the fact that we are genetically all related -- then we will create a world where phenomenon like ISIS cannot exist.