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A project has its own culture. This culture can be very different from the organization it is operating in.

How do you make sure the project culture isn’t crushed by the larger organizations’ culture?

And how do you make sure that project team members are still welcome in the organization when the project is done?

If your project means require a high level of transparency, but the host organization is all dark and secret, odds are heavily against your project. E.g. when introducing agile into an organization “…the difficulty comes when Agile starts to create transparency and accountability.”

Shock waves

You have to prepare the host organization. Before the project starts, the first shock waves of transparency must have hit the organization. Before the project, create sunlight, put all the dark (non-transparent) parts in the spotlight. Before doing the project, make performance information shared and accessible for everyone. Give it some time, let the dust settle so you can see where the hardcore problems occur.

Legacy

When a project with a deviant culture is finished, project team members become just employees again. Employees of the main culture they challenged for a short period. If the project provided benefits and value for their direct colleagues the deviance will be regarded as useful. If the project leaves the acceptance of transparency and the tools to create it behind, you have left a legacy that people will remember.

When running projects with cultures different from the target organization, you have to think about the shock wave that precedes the project and the footprint it leaves behind.