Does your organisational culture still exist after a year of corona

By corona we are in a collective culture shock. Anthropologists have long been familiar with culture shock and the stages people go through during such a shock. Jitske Kramer wrote the book 'work has left the building' about this principle in the workplace during the past year.

Jitske Kramer is a corporate anthropologist, she studies how people form a culture, and how a culture forms people. In this episode of the Working Professor, we look at the past Corona year and the extent to which culture as we know it still exists. One thing is certain: our culture is changing.

From the run-up to the honeymoon

Jitske takes us through the different phases of a changing culture. The first two phases of cultural change are the run-up phase and the honeymoon phase. In the run-up phase, you know that you have to change things and prepare for them. With corona, the phase after was very short for many people. Jitske explains: "you actually liked working at home and the peace and quiet". This phase, too, passes, and then you get into the culture shock.

The culture shock

The first shock is about behaviour: "You have to change your behaviour in all sorts of ways", says Jitske. Then comes the shock of the fundamental convictions: "then you start wondering what you actually think about it", that is a tough period. After the culture shock comes the return phase; Corona is not ready for that yet, but that time will come. You have changed and you look at things differently, so you cannot go back to your old situation. You can hear how in the podcast.

Links
More about Jitske Kramer

The new book by Jitske Kramer

Sapiens (graphic novel) discussed in the podcast

Contact

Do you have questions or input? Please contact Wendy van Ierschot at wendy@viepeople.com.

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