Those who understand the challenge of cultural change recognize the enormity of this
task because it involves the creation of shared systems of meaning that are accepted, internalized,
and acted on at every level of the organization. In the most fundamental sense, culture has a
holographic quality. Characteristics of the whole must be encoded in all the parts. Otherwise, the
parts fail to express and act on the character of the whole. The best teams, and the free-flowing
organizations that have discarded bureaucratic forms of management, constantly reflect this
quality. They are organized through core meanings that people own and share. It is this quality
that allows them to be flexible, adaptive, and non-bureaucratic. Organizationally, shared
meanings provide alternatives to control through external procedures and rules.