Stow, MA

Thursday, August 26, 2010

For Immediate Release

Balzac's book available within the next month

In his new book, "The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development," noted consultant, speaker, and psychology professor Stephen Balzac explains the steps that any business can take to become more successful, more productive, and more innovative. With straight-forward, practical descriptions and examples, Balzac shows managers the techniques to become successful leaders and to create teams of excited, motivated employees.

"The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development," covers the topics businesses need to take full advantage of the growing economic recovery.

Excerpt follows:



What is culture?

So if culture is not "the way we do things around here," what is it?

There is an oft-told, albeit probably apocryphal, study involving four gorillas. The gorillas are placed in a cage with a ramp at the top of which is a bunch of bananas. As soon as one of the gorillas starts to go after the bananas, the high pressure hoses are turned on, knocking the gorilla off the ramp and soaking all of them. This happens until no gorilla will go near those bananas. At this point, the hoses are removed and one of the gorillas is replaced by a new gorilla. When the new gorilla tries to get the bananas, the other gorillas all jump on him and drag him back. This continues until that gorilla has learned to not go after the bananas. Eventually, the cage contains four gorillas none of whom have ever been hosed, but none of whom will go near the bananas. Whether or not this story is true, it does accurately capture some fundamental concepts of culture.

At only the most superficial level, culture is "the way we do things around here." As Schein points out, it is extremely dangerous to assume that's all there is to culture. The more significant questions are why is that the way we do things? In what way does it benefit us to do things in a particular fashion? In the case of the first set of gorillas, the Taboo of the Bananas meant not getting hosed. However, that's no longer the case for successive generations. For them, passing on the Taboo of the Bananas means that they don't get beaten up. The hoses are gone, and all that remains is the tradition that the bananas are forbidden.

Ultimately, what culture is doing is providing us with a map of how the world works. As such, culture serves to tell us how we fit into the world, teaches us how to behave, be successful, be happy, and so forth. Culture is what Schein describes as an anxiety-reducing agent. As such, culture is extremely resistant to change. IBM ran into serious financial difficulties in the late 1980s and early 1990s in large part because they were unwilling to change the ways in which they were approaching the market, even though the market was rapidly changing around them. Think about your own organization: when did the organization resist change because that meant breaking with tradition?

About Steve Balzac

Stephen R. Balzac, "The Business Sensei," is a professional speaker and consultant. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in helping businesses increase revenue and build their client base.

Steve's background in engineering, management, psychology, martial arts, and competitive sports makes him a popular speaker on topics ranging from leadership, motivation, team building, interviewing skills, and sport performance to computer game design. He was a guest lecturer at MIT and WPI. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, Mass High Tech, Enterprise Management Quarterly, The CEO Refresher, The Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, Analog SF/F and the Worcester Business Journal.

A recognized thought leader, Steve regularly conducts webinars through ExecSense on topics including, "How to Become an Expert Negotiator as a CEO," "The Best Ways to Position Yourself for Your Company's Management Team," and "What You Would Learn From Reading the Top Ten Business Books of All Time and How To Apply the Concepts Today." Steve is a contributing author to Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play and the author of the forthcoming 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development being published by McGraw-Hill. He is a frequent guest on radio shows including Motivational Minds and Leadership Radio, and is frequently quoted in a variety of publications.

Stephen R. Balzac

President

7 Steps Ahead, LLC

Stow, MA

978-298-5189

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