Norms and Values
norms and values – page 1 of 3
NORMS AND VALUES
The previous two articles talked about cultures. Norms and values define culture.
Norms
Norms can be defined as attitudes and behaviours common to members of a particular group, or what they believe is “normal”.
For example, most cultures require that people wear clothes. Some even have laws to enforce this dictum: in many western countries, a naked person in public will be arrested with a charge of “indecent exposure”.
We have norms about how we speak. How you address your grandmother is probably different to how you talk with your spouse, and this is also different to how you speak to your boss, or your children. Your choice of words, your tone, and your body language are all norm-based.
Nearly everything in human society is governed by norms of some kind. This is why it feels so strange to go to a very different culture, where their norms are so different to what we are used to – but it is normal to them.
As groups, organisations have their own norms. When you move from one job to another, whether between companies, or even within the same organisation, part of learning your new role is not just understanding the tasks you must perform, but also the unwritten rules – the norms – associated with that task.
You will be assimilated!
People talk about conformity like it’s a bad thing. Yet imagine if there was no conformity, and we disagreed on what product to manufacture, its colour, which way to distribute it, or even on the cost. We need a certain amount of agreement to get things done: we have to conform in some way.
However, conformity is not good when it causes problems. Here’s a practical example. The management of a large organisation noticed that many of their specialist employees were resigning. They paid consultants to prepare a report based on the exit interviews of the employees who left over a six-month period. The report clearly found that the main reason employees
NORMS AND VALUES
The previous two articles talked about cultures. Norms and values define culture.
Norms
Norms can be defined as attitudes and behaviours common to members of a particular group, or what they believe is “normal”.
For example, most cultures require that people wear clothes. Some even have laws to enforce this dictum: in many western countries, a naked person in public will be arrested with a charge of “indecent exposure”.
We have norms about how we speak. How you address your grandmother is probably different to how you talk with your spouse, and this is also different to how you speak to your boss, or your children. Your choice of words, your tone, and your body language are all norm-based.
Nearly everything in human society is governed by norms of some kind. This is why it feels so strange to go to a very different culture, where their norms are so different to what we are used to – but it is normal to them.
As groups, organisations have their own norms. When you move from one job to another, whether between companies, or even within the same organisation, part of learning your new role is not just understanding the tasks you must perform, but also the unwritten rules – the norms – associated with that task.
You will be assimilated!
People talk about conformity like it’s a bad thing. Yet imagine if there was no conformity, and we disagreed on what product to manufacture, its colour, which way to distribute it, or even on the cost. We need a certain amount of agreement to get things done: we have to conform in some way.
However, conformity is not good when it causes problems. Here’s a practical example. The management of a large organisation noticed that many of their specialist employees were resigning. They paid consultants to prepare a report based on the exit interviews of the employees who left over a six-month period. The report clearly found that the main reason employees
References: Abelson, R.P., Frey, K.P., & Gregg, A.P. (2004). Experiments with people: Revelations from social psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lefkowitz, J. (2003). Ethics and values in industrial-organizational psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pennington, D.C., Gillen, K., & Hill, P. (2004). Social psychology. London: Arnold, Hodder Headline Group. This document has been downloaded from www.koalacat.com. Copyright Koala Consulting and Training © 2007.