Ignoring These Org Smells Puts Your Culture at Risk

How to identify eight common org smells.

I’ve spent a great deal of time with software engineers. They’re my clients, my former co-workers…I even married one. One of my favorite concepts I learned from them is code smells. Here’s how Martin Fowler describes it, “A code smell is a surface indication that usually corresponds to a deeper problem in the system. The term was first coined by Kent Beck while helping me with my Refactoring book.”

I see something akin to this in my field — the human systems operating inside a business. We have surface indications too. I call them org smells. These org smells indicate a problem in the organizational part of the business. They often arise as leaders navigate organizational friction. Sometimes we get a whiff of a problem but struggle to identify the root. We tend to look to individuals as the cause. Sometimes a person really is causing ripples at a business level and needs to leave. The problem can be with an individual leader. I know plenty of stories of execs who left a company because they weren’t up for the challenge. And, organizational issues can masquerade as individual leader failure.

Sometimes the problem is at the system level. These can be tougher to solve, it’s no wonder we hope the issue just resides in one person. When the problem goes beyond one leader or isolated situations, they permeate the org. The entity has troublesome org patterns or emerging needs that need attention. Once this happens it’s harder to accomplish goals and retain great folks. The culture begins to contort and can even become toxic. When this happens, retention becomes a huge problem. The culture atrophies further. Eventually, the company’s goals and mission is at risk.

Identifying and resolving org smells is some of the most important leadership work there is.

Eight Common Org Smells

A leadership team that has pleasant conversations

Everything looks good from the outside. We don’t fight. We look like we get along. We’re pleasant with each other. While this may seem desired, it’s actually a sign of an organization that isn’t functioning well. It’s artificial harmony. We’re not talking…