![]() ![]() Having a model allows the leader and his or her team to better understand what needs to change to get to the desired end state. Large organizations are complicated, and making changes without a full understanding of the interconnected system of the organization can result in unintended consequences. The first step to cultural change is understanding what needs to change in the organization. Leaders in organizations must specifically look to understand where there is a disconnect between the levels of culture and must leverage significant time and resources to help resolve those conflicts over time. Assumptions that pacing items (e.g., tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles) are more important than people, that higher headquarters units do not care about work-life balance, or that people of a different race/gender/faith are not as valued, demonstrate a conflict between espoused values and underlying assumptions and are common in many units. The deepest and most difficult level of culture to change is underlying assumptions, and those may be at odds with the espoused values in a dysfunctional culture. The next level is the espoused values including ideas like the Army values, dedication to maintenance in an armored brigade combat team, or humans treated as more important than hardware in the special operations community. The artifacts are the easiest to see and the easiest to change. ![]() 4 Artifacts are the things we visually see upon entering an organization: unit T-shirts, cavalry Stetsons, and maroon berets. Edgar Schein, an MIT professor emeritus, defines three levels of culture: artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions. Many leadership articles state that culture is “the way we do things here,” but that is a superficial view. This change is still ongoing in the organization, but some of the changes we made and the overarching methodology may be useful to other leaders who are trying to do the same for their organizations. Over the last two years, the leaders of 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment (1-77 AR) embarked on a planned cultural change to better align its actions, values, and culture to both increase its organizational effectiveness and meet the imperative of reducing harmful behaviors. However, there is a lack of a systemic method of understanding what needs to change and how to go about making meaningful and long-lasting changes to the culture of units. Many leaders across the Army have a desire to change their culture to better meet the dual needs of maintaining readiness and minimizing harmful behaviors. If potential recruits hear horror stories from enlisted soldiers and the headlines parents read are filled with stories of counterproductive leaders, recruitment will continue to be a challenge. 3 There are many reasons for those recruiting issues, including the low percentage of America’s youth who are eligible to enlist and a difficult jobs market, but internal to the Army we must acknowledge that part of the problem lies with the culture of our units. The Army currently struggles with a recruiting problem that has forced Army senior leaders to adjust the end strength of the Army and could cause a deficit of as many as thirty thousand soldiers below its required number by 2023. 1 Army initiatives sought to change not just the climate of organizations but the entire culture, stating “we must define, drive, and align our culture with our vision of cohesive teams.” 2 The Army, however, is comprised of vastly differing organizations, and the strategic imperative of removing harmful behaviors collides with the realities of missions and constraints at the battalion and brigade levels. The report provided a scathing indictment of the culture that existed at Fort Hood, which allowed the counterproductive elements of sexual assault, suicide, and racial extremism to fester. Army announced a series of “People First” initiatives in the wake of the 2020 Fort Hood Report. ![]() Unit leadership has worked to improve the unit’s culture to increase readiness and reduce harmful behaviors.(Photo by author) Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment, attack an objective during a rotation at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, November 2020. ![]()
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