Organizations and their culture are complex entities. Depending on the size of the organization they can be compromised of mini-cultures nested in larger ones. There are many layers of variables woven together in unique patterns and over long histories that create the cultural fabric of an organization. This is true of businesses, not for profit agencies, sports teams, and families. Variables such as power, purpose, communication, sacred cows, taboos, customs, celebrations, and stories all help to weave the tapestry of culture. Changing the pattern of that tapestry – changing culture in an organization is a monumental undertaking.

A google search of “changing organizational culture nets 123,000,000 results. There is a whole section in the book store about the topic. It is a big deal. And it is hard. Hard at the beginning to get buy-in and traction (even as people recognize the toxicity that may be present), hard in the middle (as the messiness of change wears everyone down) and hard at the “end” (well there really isn’t ever an end as sustainability is often elusive and elements of any changed tapestry will also have issues to be addressed).

I recently came across the concept of being strategically subversive in your attempts to make a change within an organization. The premise of this idea is to be very deliberate in identifying something in the culture that is like the domino in the elaborate structure that if tipped over would create the ripple effect on a much larger scale. A narrower focus on a seemingly small item will garner less pushback, less unwanted attention and the subsequent ripple will catch everyone off guard so that other small changes might also be made in the wake of the initial one without much fuss.

I am not sure the efficacy of turning this theory into practice but the thought of thinking small to get larger returns definitely has an appeal.