Organizational Consultation XXX: Leadership and the Appreciative Perspective

Culture of Ideas

The leaders of some organizations with which I have worked tend to dwell on the domain of ideas. They readily embrace the strategies of empowerment, development and feedback. These leaders and their organization thrive on decisive action. In terms of the Appreciative Triangle, the idea-rich leaders and organizations tend to be right leaning. Once again, this doesn’t refer to political ideology, but rather to the tendency of these leaders and organizations to dwell in the right-hand domain (ideas) and employ the appreciative strategies located in the lower right-hand corner of the triangle.

In this culture, there is a strong emphasis on the task of the group. Group methods and relationships among members of the group are secondary. Members of a right leaning group will take risks in order to be successful performers. They will try anything once—provided it enables them to successfully complete the task. When this culture is working effectively, employees are inclined to work very hard in accomplishing the convening task. They pitch in to assist others who are faced with heavy workloads and are fully satisfied with their own work only when it yields an exceptional product or service. Quality improvement programs are readily accepted in this type of organizational culture.

The idea-rich culture tends to honor and encourage people who are very skillful and knowledgeable in specific areas of expertise. Task-related competence is critical in this culture—as it is in the information-rich culture. This culture supports those people who possess and make effective use of the technical competencies that are needed to perform their appointed functions. When this culture is successful, employees want to be effectively supervised by the formal management of their group. Managers are formally designated and they, in turn, delegate appropriate responsibility, with a comparable amount of authority, to members of their work group.

With regard to commitment and priorities, people working in a culture of ideas want to be clear about the goals, purposes and aspirations that have been assigned to their group. They want to be compensated fairly and appropriately for their accomplishments of assigned tasks. Ideally, timely rewards and promotions are given for both individual and group achievements. In general, the culture of ideas is most closely aligned with an assertive style of leadership. The assertive leader encourages risk-taking and the generation of innovation practices. When trusted, the assertive leader provides a safe environment that encourages the generation and enactment of new ideas

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