Carolina Greenhouse
Gospel-Centered Culture
16 September 2014
The Gospel and Church Culture
1. What is culture?
a. A pattern of shared basic assumptions (Edgar Schein)
b. A lifestyle that expresses a shared mindset and convictions held in
common (Ray Ortlund)
c. Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a
member of society. (Kenneth Myers)
d. A historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a
system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of
which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about
and attitudes towards life. (Clifford Geertz)
e. Culture is what human beings make of the world (Andy Crouch)
2. Okay. But what is culture?
a. Basic Assumptions
b. Espoused Values and Beliefs
c. Artifacts
3. The Gospel
a. Romans 1:16-17
b. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
4. Primary Embedding Mechanisms
a. What leaders pay attention to
b. How leaders react to critical incidents and crises
c. How leaders allocate resources
d. Deliberate role modeling, teaching, and coaching
e. How leaders allocate rewards and status
f. How leaders recruit, select, and promote
g. How we hire
h. How, when, and where we cast vision
5. Secondary Embedding Mechanisms
a. Organizational design and structure
b. Organizational systems and procedures
c. Rites and Rituals
d. Design of physical space
e. Stories about important events and people
f. Formal statements of organizational philosophy, creeds, and charters
Appendix (If Time Permits)
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Carolina Greenhouse
Gospel-Centered Culture
16 September 2014
How is culture changed?
Once the culture develops a substantial history of its own, its culture becomes more of a
cause than an effect. The culture now influences strategy, structure, procedures, and
the ways in which people relate to each other. Culture becomes a powerful influence on
members’ perceiving, thinking, and feeling, and these predispositions will influence
behavior.
Three Step Process:
1. Disconfirmation
2. Survival Anxiety
3. Learning Anxiety
Survival anxiety must be greater than learning anxiety
Learning anxiety must be reduced rather than attempting to increase survival anxiety
Leadership and Culture
Solidarity & Sociability
1. Fragmented is low on both dimensions
2. Mercenary is high solidarity, low sociability
3. Communal is high sociability, low solidarity
4. Networked is high on both dimensions
Stability vs. Flexibility & Internal vs. External
1.
2.
3.
4.
Hierarchy is internal and stable – structured and well coordinated
Clan is internal and flexible – collaborative and friendly
Market is external and stable – competitive and results oriented
Adhocracy is external and flexible – innovative, dynamic, and entrepreneurial
Bibliography
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (5th ed.).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
HBR's 10 must reads on change management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization (Updated ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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