For over 40 years, as a recovering cultural anthropologist working in the federal government and later outside as a public management consultant, I've been a participant observer and chronicler of "the culture(s) of bureaucracy." This blog seeks to illuminate the topic by drawing on case illustrations from across a wide spectrum of bureaucratic settings - federal, state and local government; headquarters and the field; staff and line functions; domestic and defense-related missions; regulatory, scientific and administrative cultures; community-based public nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); among many others around the world.
My goal is to provide practitioners and others who work with government organizations a guide for navigating their way through bureaucratic cultures, including best practices, tools and techniques to bring about needed change. Hopefully, executives, managers and young professionals working inside these organizations will empathize with the challenge and help transform these cultures from within - by leading from the top, mentoring up and/or advocating from whatever perch you hold.
The Literature on Organizational Culture
Here's a challenge for all of us. Sift through the literature and google the Internet on organizational culture, and try to find anything at all on the public sector. So far, I've found very little - other than the kinds of anecdotal insights referenced above. What you do find are books and articles by management gurus and HR types (including political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and professional keynote speakers) who have studied and/or consulted for private sector corporations - HP, DEC, IBM, Apple, Ciba-Geigy, GM, EDS, Amoco, MA-COM, etc. To be fair, I did find several tidbits on the culture of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Several sources worth starting with include: Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. John Wiley & Sons. San Francisco. 2004. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Organizational-Culture-and-Leadership/Edgar-H-H-Schein/e/9780787975975/?itm=2. and Kotter, John P., and Heskett, James L. Corporate Culture and Performance. The Free Press. New York,. 1992. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=Kotter+%26+Heskett)
I've worked as a public servant and public sector volunteer, consultant, trainer, speaker, writer, and editor since serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey in 1965. What puzzles me is why no one has formally studied this phenomenon of organization culture in public bureaucracies. Aside from internal culture surveys that are understandably confidential and remain under wraps for an eternity, what are our sources - other than the memoirs of retiring career and appointed leaders whose storylines are oftentimes highly suspect? One who comes to mind with whom I had the privilege of serving is Smokin' Joe Califano, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (subsequently the Department of Health and Human Services) under President Carter from 1977-1979. His memoir, Inside, A Public and Private Life, Public Affairs, 2004, sheds light on the culture of the Pentagon during the Vietnam War, bureaucratic behavior in LBJ's White House, and similar phenomena in the reorganization of HEW. (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9781586482305) 
We'll return to Schein and others later - from whom we can learn a lot about how to look at organization culture in general - but for the moment let's consider several alternative sources. Until researchers and seasoned practitioners take a penetrating look at government agency cultures, I guess we'll just have to share first-hand experiences and find case illustrations that are typically embedded elsewhere - in local newspapers, non-fiction literature and (heaven help us) films.
Making FEMA Move Faster
Just a few weeks ago, the op-ed page of The Palm Beach Post (March 22, 2008, page 12A) noted that federal grant-in-aid funding was finally flowing to reduce hurricane-related damage in local communities. However, "...the excessive delays are easily explained by the involvement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has a history of making hard work harder." (Thus in this part of the state), "...only a few projects have been completed out of the 74 grant applications generated by the '04 storms. Some local managers withdrew their applications in frustration, rather than fight with FEMA to get plans approved." Meanwhile, "...FEMA has wasted time fighting over details on application forms and blueprints." (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/opinion/epaper/2008/03/22/a12a_fema_edit_0322.html)
Several weeks later, The Post published an article lauding R. David Paulson, former Miami-Dade fire chief and current FEMA Administrator who took over the reins after the agency's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (April 3, 2008, page 2A). Paulson "...recruited other state and local emergency responders" (and) "...took something that the...public had no confidence in" and brought it back to life. (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/nation/epaper/2008/04/03/a2a_fema_0403.html)
In this coverage, which is representative of similar pieces on public sector organizations you can find in any local newspaper any day of the week (look for them and I suspect you'll agree), lie the seeds for understanding what we mean by the culture of bureaucracy. In the case of FEMA's response to the perfect storm, a few elements that stand out include matters of: agility, hiring and staffing practices, and a rule-driven vs. customer- or citizen-centered process.
More next week on the concept of organizational culture and further illustrations from a wide range of public sector settings. Meanwhile, let's hear from you on your experience and research.