Funeral home #2 has a culture that is comprised of people who view life as either winning or losing. Criticism of others both inside and outside the organization is common. New ideas are often shot down simply as an amusing past time much like Skeet shooting.

Power is direct and associated with position. While the staff of funeral home 1 is expected to approach others in a cautious and tentative manner to protect themselves, funeral home 2 encourages people to be forceful in order to promote their status and security. Members are expected to appear perfect and never let their guard down. Acknowledgement of inadequacy or need for help is considered a weakness. Appearances mean more than reality. Information is power and is often withheld as management and staff see themselves and each other as winners or losers.

Criticism and overconfidence prevail over continuous improvement, learning and reasonable risk taking.

Goals are expressed most often in tactical terms and very narrowly. If it isn’t finitely measurable it cannot be a goal. People practice a form of “If it’s to be, it’s up to me” personification of duties and responsibilities preferring micro management over delegation.

Occasionally, the organization realizes a major success but just as often they don’t. Interestingly, because it prefers to strive for the unattainable, successes are not celebrated for long. Instead of being “pleased, but never satisfied” they are simply never good enough.

The prevailing attitude can be summed up: “The world is out to get us and if I win then Your Life Sucks…and mine doesn’t look like it does.”

Because management underestimates the abilities of their people they frequently complain of the lack of quality people and the burden of leadership.