Culture works quite different from psychology as the latter is focused on a single human being whereas the first is all about groups of people.
In linkedin discussions, but also on other platform I often hear people talk about cultural change and as an example I find the situation of a single professional. For instance the question "why can't you start being more positive when the corporate or team climate is negative?" why can't you be the first? When you lead a change, the rest will follow soon.
I often feel that my perception in these discussions is more negative and I wonder, am I too much of a skeptic or are others too naive, in trusting change will come, because we just start behaving differently?
As an example I would like to introduce the British habit of driving left. You just start a change - individually - by driving on the right side in such an environment and see what will happen.
In difference with psychology, cultural processes need a different dynamic in order to change. Just a different mind-set won't do it in group dynamics. The first question for an organization to change is why should we. What do we gain by driving on the "right" side? There must be some kind of a challenge in order to change. Personal and organization-wise.
For a group to change, behavior is indeed one of the element that will change or have to change. But behavior is not leading in cultural change. In cultural change that change comes from economic or social circumstances. In order to survive or to adapt, a psychological shift in attitude and behavior is often required. but - (psychological) behavior - is hardly ever the driving factor in cultural change.
