This is one of the handouts that participants of Banks International’s program, Culture Audit Interviews, receive and is one of the base documents attendees at the 21st Century Organizations can also receive.

1. NOTE: The following information is excerpts from the Presentation by the same name.
For more information or for the complete document please contact us.
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The New 21st Century Organization is an organization that functions with Adaptability, Efficiency, and
Flexibility, has adopted The New Contract, has a predominantly Adult-Adult culture, and
concentrates on creativity and innovation
Flexibility
(Organizing to cope with
unexpected turns of events)
Quick handling of emergencies
and sudden crises
Quick response to sudden
overloads and unusual demands
Efficiency
(Organizing for routine production)
High quantity and quality of product
High Output/Input ratio
Continuously improving current routines
Adaptability
(Organizing to change routines)
Breaking old routines
Anticipating problems and developing timely solutions
Staying abreast of new methods applicable to the organization’ activities
Prompt acceptance of solutions
Widespread acceptance of solutions
© BANKSinternational, LLC 2005. Based on the published Works of Dr. Min Basadur. © Basadur Centre for Applied Creativity.
The demonstrated best way to develop and organization to be Efficient, Flexible, and Adaptable requires an
effective, repeatable and reproducible Creative Problem Solving process, an Adult-Adult Culture, a 21st
Century style of Leadership, and a modern Functional Culture with modern processes and controls, such
as 6δ, 5S, S&OP, MOS, Lean, etc.
Copyright © Banks International LLC 2004-2013. All rights reserved. Web Version 4.0

2. The 160+ year old Traditional Contract suggests that there be a paternalistic relationship between bosses (who
unknowingly and unwittingly act as “parents”) and employees (who may also unknowingly and unwittingly act as
dependents of the “parents”). This leads employees to wait for bosses to make all decisions, give orders, break new
ground, steer them, protect them, and take care of them. The success or failure of the enterprise lies in the hands of
these “parents.” This, in turn, strips the individual employee of their own responsibility in producing success. He/she
then mostly worries about following orders, executing to expectations, and hopefully continuing to consistently gain
the favor of the “parents.” Here we lose the intellectual capital of people, and the knowledge and experience gained
through time does not necessarily contribute to or advances the organization’s Mission. The weight of responsibility
for results is placed on the bosses’ shoulders (which isn’t entirely fair), and unconsciously provokes them to treat
people with a high degree of control over them.
Core Workers Leadership
Mature Let Go
Participate CULTURE Involve Others
Take Ownership Inspire & Lead
© BANKSinternational, LLC 2004
3 DISTINCT EVENTS MUST TRANSPIRE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE
Evolve from “dependent” Evolve from “parent” role and
Mature role and make choices Let Go become coach
Get involved with the whole Involve others in the business;
Participate business, not just your job Involve coach, delegate, empower
Ownership Own the end results – see Inspire Think possibilities, think big,
your complete role & Lead think can do, enable everyone
© BANKSinternational, LLC 2004
To develop a 21st Century New Organization with its associated better results, the functional culture (how things are
done) and the social culture (how people interact) must evolve. Currently, the dominant corporate culture today is the
Traditional culture, also known as a Paternalistic Culture and/or the Old Contract. Evidence suggests that these types
of organizations will not easily, swiftly, or cost-effectively take an organization to the levels of performance or the
results sought or needed in our economy or the global market.
Shedding a traditional paternalistic culture and evolving towards an Adult-Adult environment requires deliberate work
on the two domains that influence culture. Employees cannot and will not evolve until the leadership uses its
patriarchic influence to systematically help them evolve into “adults,” independent and co-accountable for execution,
performance, results, and their own well being. Likewise, employees must want and pursue that state. Research by
well regarded and prestigious academic institutions, as well as by reputable private interests, suggest that the most
transformational commercial strategy that will lead an organization to a better economic performance in the 21st
Century is the progression of a paternalistic-style culture into an adult to adult type culture (what we refer to as The
New Organization, The New Contract, or The Partnership Strategy).
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3. Dominant Cultural Styles
Leaders tend to:
Act like parents in relationships with subordinates
Demand compliance and conformance
Control activities, resources, use of time, and information
Make most decisions, including those that belong in lower levels of the
organization
Provide physical and emotional safety
Face challenges (too often by themselves)
Solve problems and provide solutions (too often by themselves)
Answer most questions
Continuously assert their authority and control
Centralize control at the top
Hold people accountable for their responsibilities
React unfavorably and oftentimes aggressively to
o Questioning
o Disagreement
Paternalistic Cultures o Resistance
o Opposition
(a.k.a. Parent-Child o Dissention
Cultures) o Push-back
o Challenges to status-quo
o Non-compliance
o Non-conformance
Core Workers tend to:
Act like “dependents” in relationships with superiors
Look to be taken care of (their safety, job security, employment viability,
etc.) by those in authority
Place responsibility for their individual success and the success of the
enterprise on leaders
Avoid self-expression and choose the comfort of stability over ownership
Put their future in the hands of leaders
React to disappointment in leaders with
o Blame
o Victim/villain thinking
o Apathy
o Malcontent
o Fear
o Resignation
o Helplessness
React to pressures with
o Confusion
o Denial
o Resentment
o Self-induced stress
o And/or by hiding or distorting information and “bad news”
Copyright © Banks International LLC 2004-2013. All rights reserved. Web Version 4.0

4. Dominant Cultural Styles
Leaders tend to:
Recognize and accept that people have and make choices
Freely share information about the state of the business
Impart business literacy to everyone
Encourage and consider all perspectives and points of view
Engage everyone in the running of the business
Enable innovation and unique solutions
Encourage and enable self-accountability
Promote empowerment and self-reliance
React unfavorably to people’s
o Lack of individual accountability
o Externalization of individual accountability
o Political deference to authority
o Dependency on external low-risk decision-making
o Lack of ownership (of the whole)
Adult-Adult Cultures
Core Workers
Have the right and responsibility to embrace the risk in the marketplace
and take responsibility for the whole. They tend to:
Master their own business literacy
Deal with their own emotional welfare
Manage and do the work of the organization
Have a point of view about the business
Contribute to the success of others
Make choices that benefit the whole enterprise
Feel safe responding assertively or reacting to
o Excessive or unneeded control
o Demeaning or disrespectful treatment
o Rejection or negation of feedback
o Lack of consultation on decisions that affect them
o Negation of participation in many tactical elements of the business
Core Workers Leadership
Mature Let Go
Participate CULTURE Involve Others
Take Ownership Inspire & Lead
© BANKSinternational, LLC 2004
Strategic Approach:
Change Culture from “Parent-Child” type Change leadership style from
Interactions to “Adult-Adult” type interactions paternal to Transformational (21CL)
Advance leadership style from all
Develop trust and mutuality of purpose tactical to include a solid strategic
amongst and between all levels orientation IMAGE CROPPED OFF
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5. Many efforts to evolve to 21st Century Organizations have fallen short of doing so and/or fallen short of delivering
expectations typically identifiable with The New Organization. Research suggests that in nearly all instances, the root
cause of the failed efforts was that the culture never evolved out of the Traditional Culture/Old Contract. In these
organizations where the efforts failed, work groups were formed, people were trained, much empowerment was
delegated, many responsibilities were transferred, boundaries were reestablished, decisions were moved to lower
levels, and much more was done. The problem was that leaders continued to act like “parents” and core workers
continued to act like “dependents.” Although core workers took ownership of their work, they never took ownership of
the whole and never brought forth many of the improvements or ideas they had to contribute to the success of others.
Organizations will always have a much needed hierarchy of control, just like societies cannot exist without some sort
of leadership. We’re not talking here about democratic enterprises. There’s plenty of evidence that they don’t work
well and eventually fail as a business. We’re talking here about businesses where everyone shares in the risks of the
market, as well as the rewards. We’re talking about environments where everyone is interdependent, but not reliant
on others for their personal satisfaction of participating in the enterprise. We’re talking about an environment where
everyone sees and interacts with everyone else in an adult way – telling the unconditional truth, extending good will
to others, trusting the intentions of colleagues and coworkers to be noble, knowing everyone else has your back, as
you have theirs, recognizing the shared mutuality . . . IMAGE CROPPED OFF
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