Is culture very hard to change?

Is culture very hard to change? Alistair Cockburn says “the culture becomes increasingly hard to change as the #ppl increases. .. It is for this reason, that I have been so adamant in the Heart of Agile organization that the tone of interactions and the developing personality of the org is the single most important thing to me.”

But, on the other hand, Daniel Mezick says you can change the culture in a few days by changing who has the right to make decisions.

My view is that culture is the way we do things around here. It’s about people aligning themselves with the values, interests and goals of people in power and the structures, processes and rules that they have put in place. It is the result of people being very aware of the formal and informal system of awards and punishments meted out by executives. Rewards like promotions, salary hikes, power and autonomy and punishments like reduced power and authority, reprimands, exclusion and firing. It’s about who’s in power and who isn’t and what the people in power want to see and hear.

If the executives and decision rights change as they often do during a serious financial crisis or a takeover then culture can change quickly as people align with the new power dynamics.

So if we want the culture of an organisation to change to support an agile way of working then…