Evaluating Organizational Cultures: Is Your Organization Pathological, Bureaucratic, or Generative?

Embarking on the DevOps journey often brings many into contact with Westrum’s typology of organizational cultures—a compelling framework that sheds light on how different organizations respond to failure. The paper is a must-read and you can find it linked below.

Today, I want to delve into the various ways in which these organizational types handle setbacks:

😠 Pathological: This is a culture of blame and fear. Mistakes lead to scapegoating, and it’s every person for themselves. It’s a toxic environment that stifles growth and innovation. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to find yourself in this kind of workplace.

👨‍⚖️ Bureaucratic: Here, you’ll find a rigid structure with well-defined rules for everything, including how failures are dealt with. Fairness is paramount, and while it may sound appealing at first, it can sometimes lead to an overemphasis on procedure over people.

🤔 Generative: This is the gold standard. A culture of inquiry, learning, and trust. When failures occur, the focus is on understanding why and how to prevent future occurrences, rather than on assigning blame. It’s an environment that fosters continuous improvement and innovation.

Recognizing the pivotal role of learning within any organization, fostering a generative culture is paramount.

This is especially true in software engineering, where incident reviews and retrospectives are crucial part of team improvement. It requires a solid foundation of trust, which, once established, paves the way for open, productive discussions and lasting progress.

Paper: https://buff.ly/3Mdxucd