I'm older than most of you, but younger than some. But by my age, you would have thought that you know football. Nothing would surprise you.

However, I have been very surprised at the gay abandon with which the C word has been used in recent times. And it's not just in the in the front bar at the local, but also on building sites and on the Terrace. I've even heard ex-players use the C word in the electronic media. Are they just trying to be clever? Are they trying to make us think? Are they attempting to shock us?

And, bloody hell, last week Kim Hagdorn claimed the high moral ground from his well-considered column in The Sunday Times, stating that he was right all along because one of our senior players used the C word. Of course, it mattered nought to this scribe that he and our player were talking about two different things.

From all that I've read and heard in the electronic media, I can only conclude that the proclaimers have bugger-all of an understanding of organisational Culture. For those who trawl these pages and want to learn, please read on.

Organisational culture is the basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organisation, such as a footy club. These operate within the unconscious level and define (in a taken-for-granted fashion) an organisation’s view of itself and its environment.

Within the organisation, the individual's assumptions and beliefs are influenced by…

• The region, (such as a harbour city or an affluent suburb)
  
•  The organisational field, (such as the recipe where back-handers, back-scratchers and blackmail are used to colour independent reports)
  
• The organisation through its observed values, beliefs, behaviours and paradigms. (e.g. Consider a club that would effectively condone illegal and/or immoral activities by turning a blind eye.)
• Teams within teams which will often develop sub-cultures. (e.g. The married employees often have different behaviours and values to the party-valuing singles.)
  

 

If you want to begin to understand a football club's culture, you don't ask the coach "What does your club stand for?". Such an inane question will only elicit, at best, a glib answer. Instead, one should look at the physical manifestations.

• Control systems: How are the players, support staff and officials performance-measured and rewarded?
• Routines and rituals: How does the club do things and what patterns of behaviour are evident?
• Organisational structures: The organisation chart will always identify who and what are considered to be important.
• Power structure. Who actually wields or shares the power?
• Stories: Club stories are often used to initiate the newcomer and subversively let them know what is considered important. (Player X got so smashed after the first game of the season that he woke up in Kalgoorlie and had no idea how he got there. Player Y was so dedicated to training that he would push himself at each session until he vomited. Only then did he think that he had trained hard enough.)
• Symbols: Who gets the best parking spots? Who is allowed to express dissent to the coach?

 

The key is that organisations are social structures and people bring their personal values, needs and wants to an organisation and then assimilate the personal values, needs and wants of others when they are embedded within the organisation.

 

Next time someone talks to you about Freo's poor culture, or lack of culture, or their need for a different culture, tell them they don't know what they are talking about.

 

It is not just a matter of winning games to develop "a winning culture". Those who believe that, are idiots.