In our previous essays, we explained the definition of culture for the purpose of further discussions to follow. All cultures are multi-dimensional [1], structured and dynamic [2], and due to the complexity of any culture, much skill and effort is required if one wants to come to a better understanding of a culture’s artifacts, values and basic assumptions. Like everything in life, any culture is constantly evolving through a process of change. If you have not read the previous essays, please do so, as concepts discussed herein build upon those explained previously.
The Fruit of Our South African Culture
Understanding the Dynamics of Culture: Structures and Dynamics
INTRODUCTION
Lately, South Africa has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. We find ourselves in stormy seas. It has become critical that we take a good look at the cultures that shape our country’s identity and determine the fruit which we will bear. If we are not satisfied with the fruit of our harvest, then cultural change is required.
We all form part of various cultures that have been shaped and transformed over periods of time following a path of change in response to threats, events, opportunities, circumstance, disasters, religion, politics and governance via legislation or policy.
Cultures are dynamic and on a perpetual path of change. Whilst change is a non-negotiable reality that all cultures must face in the pursuit of survival and sustainable development, it is how we face it that will determine the trajectory of our nation. Now, as the world is seemingly on the precipice of environmental destruction and South Africa faces its own storms, delving deep into understanding our cultures has become a matter of grave urgency, as we consider how these help or hinder us.
With reference to our previous article [2], there are two types of external forces in constant competition to dictate the direction of cultural change, namely Technical and Social forces.
External Technical Forces
Technical forces can be easy to identify, if one spends some time observing the environments within which a culture operates. They influence how and what a culture or organization does. Look around you and consider how your locality, access to technology or the impact of disease and natural disasters have impacted your own trajectory: what you do and how you do it. And, consider how different your community’s reality is from someone who has been exposed to significantly different realities.
Different indigenous cultures across the globe reflect how technical forces produce cultural artifacts, or accepted ways of doing things to manage their immediate environment. In some places, food is preserved during the warm months so that there is nutritious food available during the frozen winter months. In others, food is readily available all year round, and the climate is so hot, that preservation of food is neither necessary nor appropriate. Construction methods are adapted to provide shelter from the hot sun or icy winds. Even a culture’s accepted dress code is influenced by the weather.
The availability of natural resources influences how development occurs in a particular geographic location. The town of Kimberly is in existence because of the discovery of diamonds and the Gauteng province developed primarily as a result of the gold rush. Communities develop in areas which are closest to necessary resources such as water, or are easily accessible. Even a group’s choice of holiday activities is influenced by whether they have access to the ocean or the mountains.
Technological advancement is another significant external driving force behind what people groups do and how they do it. New industries and professions are being born as artificial intelligence and computing power increase in capacity. For example, modern day computer software has transformed what a draughtsperson spends their day doing, no longer behind a desk, creating a hand-drawn artwork, but behind a computer generating intricate and multi-dimensional images that far exceed what was possible with only a pen and paper. The same can be said of the photographer who no longer spends hours in the darkroom, but can now generate fantastical images through computer-generated manipulation. Whatever the industry, it has been significantly impacted by technological change in the past 50 years, or less.
External Social Forces
External social forces are not always easy to identify, and act like invisible currents below the waterline. Yet, if we remain aware and mindful, we can recognise these forces at work, even in our own communities. Social forces influence who and why people assimilate.
Think about how religious communities differ in their religious observances, dress and accepted behaviours. The teachings found in the holy manuscripts, such as the Jewish Torah, Muslim Quran and Christian Bible, guide a group in what is acceptable and important, as well as how to manage and correct deviations from these teachings.
Different racial and national groups express themselves differently, have differing cultural hierarchies and cultural norms. For example, the British are known for being emotionally reserved and insular, whilst the Nguni Bantu peoples are known for their value of ubuntu, which often expresses itself in a warm and extroverted manner. Why each group expresses itself in a different way is because of the values underpinning the macro-culture’s experience and beliefs.
Language, too, is a significant social force. Much has been written of the impact of colonisation, as the English language and its associated culture have spread across the Western world. One of the impacts of this phenomenon has been the spread of English across most of the West, allowing it to become universally accepted by most nations as the language of international communication. The ability to communicate across cultures is a significant enabler of socio-economic growth, problem solving and opportunity creation. Equally important is the ability to communicate with one another in each other’s mother tongue. Nelson Mandela is attributed with the view that “if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language then it goes to his heart.” Culture is a matter of the heart.
Political agendas and government policies, too, shape how a culture develops. Whether a country is governed as a democracy, autocracy or monarchy, if it is socialist or communist, all has a direct bearing on why certain expectations are established and who has access to resources. Our South African history vividly reminds us how changes in government policies and political leadership impact an entire nation, creating or closing doors for select groups of people.
NEWTON’S 3RD LAW
Newton’s 3rd law, states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This speaks to the symmetry that is found in nature: forces always occur in pairs and one body cannot exert force upon another without exerting force upon itself. [6] Thus, for a culture to be in a stable state of balance, every acting force must have an equal, opposing paired force. Any imbalance in the magnitude of opposing forces working on the culture will result in acceleration causing change in velocity or direction along the culture’s path.
INTERNAL FORCES
We have unpacked the concepts of external forces, above. Within a culture, the opposite force comes from within. Internal forces must be the counter-balancing forces which enable a culture to maintain control and balance. Internal forces are generated by the culture’s ability to provide leadership in response to the effect of external social or technical forces. Any culture therefore requires both social leadership as well as technical leadership to ensure a balance of forces along the path of change.
Leaders are responsible for the processes and energy required to generate the internal forces required in response to the external environment of a culture. Leaders do this by maintaining and nurturing espoused values. Leaders catalyse innovation, provide inspiration, give guidance, and set the example to the younger generations of how things are done. Leaders are responsible for the social and technical decisions that are made by a culture in pursuit of harvest.
Such leadership might show up as technical apprenticeship through a process of skills development, where master-apprentice or mentor-mentee relationships offer the opportunity for social and technical skills transfer. It is also seen in how leaders reinforce basic beliefs and espoused values through the formulation of a shared vision and values within a business context, for example.
What is clear is that for a culture to successfully navigate the stormy seas with which we are faced, it is necessary to have both kinds of leaders: the technical and the social. A culture is not sustainable with only one or the other. The image below shows a painting titled “At the Wheel” by Frank Brangwyn (1893). It is an excellent metaphor for the two kinds of leaders required to provide the vision and energy required at a cultures’ wheel on the path of change.
Changes start from inside
Some time ago, I attended a leadership course with around seventy other participants. The audience was seated around tables for group discussion and session workshop purposes, and I found myself in the presence of a small group of men I had never met before. During the first session of the course, the facilitator presented statistics to report on the status quo of the South African socio-economic environment. We were bombarded with data related to fiscal debt, crime, joblessness, infant mortality, substance abuse, domestic violence, etc. It was quite a sombre atmosphere when we were asked to turn to our group members to discuss the session content. I shared my emotions of despair given the statistics presented, and in a moment of hopelessness asked my group members the question: “Gentleman, how on earth do we change the overwhelming unrighteousness in our country?”. Without the blinking of an eye, Thabo, who was sitting to my right, looked at me and said: “Brother, start by changing yourself…”
From time to time, we all fall into the trap of thinking that someone else, some other culture, external forces, history or circumstances are responsible for the fruit of our harvest. There is some cheap comfort to be found in blaming someone or something for our dismal harvests, or in hoping that some form of hero is about to appear over the horizon to deliver from peril. But, Thabo is right. Searching for scapegoats or waiting for a hero to bring change is not a good strategy. Culture is not a ship without sails out at sea. We need to take our position at the wheel and control of our responses to the winds and currents that drive us forward. This we can only do by changing the inside. Change starts at home, change starts with me.
REFERENCES
[1] The Fruit of Our South African Culture
[2] Understanding the Dynamics of Culture: Structures and Dynamics
[3] Schein, E.H and Schein, P.A. (2009). The Corporate Culture Survival Guide (3rd Edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey, NJ07030.
[4] Schein, E.H. (1991). What is Culture? In P.J. Frost, J. Martin, L.F. Moore, CC Lundberg, & M.R. Louis, (Eds.), Reframing Organizational Culture. SAGE Publications, Newbury Park, California 93120 (pp. 243-253).
[5] Rosinski, P. (2003). Coaching Across Cultures – New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate & Professional Differences. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y ODZ.
[7] How many countries are there in the world? (2023)
[8] Brangwyn, F. (1893). “At the wheel” painting.
[9] Huntington, S.P. (1996). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY 10020.
[10] Diamon, J. (2005). Guns Germs and Steel, The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY 10110.
[11] Ferguson, N. (2011). Civilization: The West and the Rest. Penguin Random House UK, London SW11 7BW.
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