13: How Culture Affects Coaching, with Bonni Stachowiak

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

What do we mean by a strong culture?

• Strong culture: consistent throughout the organization and thus has a strong influence on individuals

• Weak culture: do not have as strong an impact on individuals because of inconsistencies (does not mean it is not effective)

In Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein (2004) defines culture as, “…a pattern of SHARED BASIC ASSUMPTIONS that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to PERCEIVE, THINK, and FEEL in relation to those problems” (p. 17).

We accidentally referred to Schein’s book in the episode as “Making Sense of the Organization” which is actually a book by Karl Weick and also an excellent read on organizational culture, though the Schein book is an easier read, so we recommend that first.

We discuss Schein’s three indicators of culture:

• Artifacts

• Espoused beliefs and values

• Underlying assumptions

We also referenced the model below from The Character of a Corporation by Goffee and Jones:

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