María Lladró, Associated Consultant of Transform Action and regular contributor to El Mundo -Valencia Community- shares with us the parable of the frog and its resemblance to Culture. Are we asleep or awake? THE CULTURE of a company is colloquially defined as «the way things are done here». The culture of our organization can go unnoticed when we have been immersed in it for a long time, because we have become accustomed to it. However, it is necessary to be attentive in order to turn it into a gear and an engine of strategy and success. The story of the frog that jumps out of the pot of boiling water but dies little by little without reacting as the water is heating up is known. The parable is useful to explain what happens with culture. As in the case of the bather who has become accustomed to cold water after the first impression: the contrast sensitizes us, the habit numbs.
The culture and the frog, María LLadró
Imagine that we work in a conservative company subjected to rigid procedures. Lack of initiative in people to resolve issues that get stuck. Innovation does not arise or is drowned nothing else out of fear of failure. And the day comes when we leave this company and join another that has a culture centered on the client, where opportunities are explored, communication flows, diversity is enriching and people collaborate without the limiting feeling of the hierarchy. We become aware of the contrast. That’s the culture, the cork that raises us or the lead that sinks us.