Abstract
Samuel Culbert payed attention to his experience and made himself the consummate applied behavioral scientist. He is an almost five-decade contributor of pathbreaking ideas, skilled in identifying management dysfunction and original in suggesting models of progressive organizational change. Combining a clinician’s eye with system analytic, inductive thinking, he constructs mid-level theoretical frameworks aimed at influencing frontline practitioners along with academically housed students of change. Always “outside the box” challenging conventional wisdom and mainstream practice, his contributions have been both methodological and substantive. His body of work combines an intense humanism with critical thinking that advances the state of knowledge.
This essay attempts to review the roots of his thinking, the essence of his work, and the muckraking advocacy stances he has taken. We see the progression of his thinking in his forthcoming book where he revises some of his previous assumptions about organizations, concluding that far more variables than previously thought must be engaged for the management mentality, mainstream in organizations, to appreciably change.
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References
Culbert, S. A. (1974). The organization trap and how to get out of it. New York: Basic Books.
Culbert, S. A. (1996). Mind-set management: The heart of leadership. New York: Oxford University Press.
Culbert, S. A. (2008a). Beyond bullsh*t: Straight-talk at work. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Culbert, S. A. (2008b). Get rid of the performance review! The Wall Street Journal, B1.
Culbert, S. A. (2016). Trans-organizational muckraking: Method and style. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 52(2), 244–260.
Culbert, S. A. (2017). Good people, bad managers: How culture corrupts good intentions. New York: Oxford University Press.
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Further Reading
Culbert, S. A. with David Muir (downloaded 2017). http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/conversation-performance-review-11126992.
For much of his professional career, and up until a few years ago, Samuel Culbert believed bottom-up advocacy was a viable format for progressive organizational change. Still an ardent believer, recent insights have led him to a personal conclusion that more is needed. It is a nuanced outcome he always resisted. That is why his last book (in press, 2017) is an essential read for anyone interested in cultural progression and humanistic change management.
If you would like to experience the passion and zest he puts into his public presentations, along with the humor he often inserts, watch the three-minute video he made for ABC News (downloaded 2017). For that matter, google his dozen or so NPR appearances, find the media articles he wrote (including two NY Times Op-eds.), and read what professionals in HR and OD have written about his work.
Intricately familiar with Culbert’s recent methods article, Transorganizational Muckraking: Method and Style (2016), I find it a must read for every phenomenologically attentive researcher. When reading, I thoroughly advise taking your time. If you do, I believe you will learn to see a great deal that conventional researchers typically miss. Expose yourself to the origins and logic of his unique way of listening to people and getting to the basis of their truths.
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Nord, W. (2020). Culbert, Samuel: The Magician’s Work on Organization Change. In: Szabla, D.B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_37-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_37-2
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Culbert, Samuel: The Magician’s Work on Organization Change- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_37-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_37-1