The standard for project management

6.2 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

An organization’s culture is its DNA—its core identity. Culture will always 

influence the use of agile approaches. Organizational culture runs along a 

continuum, from highly predictive plans to lean startup where everything is an 

experiment. Although agile approaches fit well with the lean startup culture, a 

highly predictive organization can encourage empirical measurements, small 

experiments, and learning so they can move toward agility.

6.2.1 CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT OF SAFETY

Organizational culture is difficult to change, but the most important 

cultural norm in an organization willing to try any new method or technique 

is enabling a safe work environment.

Only in a safe, honest, and transparent environment can team members 

and leaders truly reflect on their successes to ensure their projects continue 

to advance, or apply lessons learned on failed projects so they do not fall 

back into the same patterns.

6.2.2 ASSESSING CULTURE

Every project finds itself in tension with competing aspirations. How can 

the team go fast without compromising quality? How can the team preserve 

flexibility while also hitting a firm date? Most importantly, how does the 

team satisfy and meet the requirements of the customer?

Project leaders may feel their job is to meet every expectation of every 

stakeholder; but, when compelled to make a choice, there is often a priority 

depending on the culture and requirements of the organization’s business 

environment. For example, a mobile telecom project has a greater bias 

for speed, where a government program may have a greater bias for 

generalization and stability.

“Culture eats strategy for 

breakfast” —Peter Drucker

This statement stresses the 

importance of people’s commitment 

and passion for a cause. No matter 

what strategy or plan you implement 

with your team, its success is 

going to be governed by the people 

implementing the plan. If the people 

who are driving the strategy aren’t 

passionate about the change, or 

worse, are apathetic about their 

job and their organization, then you 

stand little chance of implementing 

the change.

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Section 6 

To navigate these dynamics, project leaders should take the time to assess where emphasis is most often applied 

in the organization. Figure 6-2 illustrates what an assessment might look like. In this example, a project leader initiates 

a conversation about organizational priorities with stakeholders, team members, and senior management. Those 

priorities are then recorded as positions on a sliding scale between two extremes. The results are then used to find agile 

techniques that best fit with those priorities.