two different ideologies of organization

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to today’s contest scheduled for one fall. In one corner, the captain of culture, the vaunter of values, Dr. Edgar Schein! And in the other, the purveyor of pragmatism, the maven of management, Peter Drucker.

Let’s get ready to…

Sometimes, when we look at competing ideologies of organizations, we can easily fall into the trap of considering those ideologies as absolute or a binary construct. If we like one, we can’t like the other. So, let’s dive into two of the more critical voices in organizational culture: Edgar Schein and Peter Drucker, the heavyweight champs (as it were).

#1 - Edgar Schein: peeling back the culture layers

Edgar Schein believed that the heart and soul of an organization is its culture. He saw culture as a tapestry woven with artifacts, values, and hidden assumptions. According to Schein, to understand an organization, you must decode the symbols and rituals that make up its identity. 

Schein felt that you could analyze culture to bring organizational change. He believed organizational problems spring from cultural contradictions and aimed to unveil hidden beliefs influencing behaviors. Schein's philosophy was to encourage organizations to ponder their culture and nurture a self-awareness that brings meaningful change.

#2 - Peter Drucker: the pragmatic navigator

The modern management whiz Peter Drucker is the gold standard most organizational leaders measure themselves against. He was about results, efficiency, and aligning individual and organizational goals. His Management by Objectives (MBO) framework is a roadmap for getting things done. Drucker's mantra? "Show me the results, let's get stuff done!"

Drucker’s main contention was that an organization's value, and thus the driving force of culture, was in the capital it had to operate with. For him, capital had changed from land in the time of robber barons to means of production during the industrial age to people in the information age. 

do these ideologies compete?

Schein and Drucker represent two distinct ideologies – one about cultural exploration, the other about results. Which perspective for organizational culture is right? Are we on board with Schein's cultural deep dive, or are we more into Drucker's results-driven approach?

Here's a thought: What if we blend Schein's cultural insight with Drucker's get-things-done mindset? Imagine a mix of cultural introspection and pragmatic efficiency. For me, it's like having the best of both worlds. This combo could be the secret sauce for organizations navigating the complexities of modern management and problem-solving.