On my great Anzac Day Pilgrimage (described in my last post) I talked about going to Badjaling, situated about 200km east of Perth. Until it closed in 1954, Badjaling was a railway siding, complete with huge wheat silos. Now the railway culture of that community has gone. High grass grows up through the rusty lines. The platform has gone, and so have the signals, the wheat silos, the roar of the diesel engines, the bustle of people loading the train and repairing the lines.
Over the next few weeks I want to talk about the culture of organisations. The loss of a culture such as Badjaling’s railway culture is a great starting point. There is no such culture at Badjaling now, the only thing giving an indication that such a culture existed is the symbol of the overgrown railway lines. Two other critical things that depicted the railway culture have gone. The systems and the behaviours.
People used to be able to set the clocks by the train arrival. The train whistle became a part of people’s lives in these railway communities, and their lives focussed around the dependability of the railways. These were systems that became an important part of a railway culture. So were the behaviours. Meeting the train, catching the train, loading the train with wheat, shunting the train and watching their activities were central to the railway culture.
Looking at the symbol of those overgrown railways lines I wonder, could it be that when a culture dies, all that is left is the symbols?
Next post I’ll talk more about symbols, systems and behaviours and how they impact culture. In the meantime, any thoughts of your own about organisational or community culture?
Rob, I like your reflection. I think it's not only a culture of organisations we need to think about but a spirituality of organisations. A local Catholic who has done some interesting work on the spirituality of organisations is Steve Truscott.
ReplyDeleteThanks Geoff, it would be interesting to follow up on Steve's work. How can I access that?
ReplyDeleteCheers Rob, nice reflections on the cultural and social significance of trains and of train lines and train travel to country people. One of my favourite writers the historian Tony Judt who died last year wrote about the importance of public trains and public railways in fostering civil society and a sense of public and collective good. He traces the decline of and revival of train travel to the fluctuating fortunes of notions of the public good and our sense of collective responsibility. good luck with the blog
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jan/13/bring-back-rails/
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/11/in-love-with-trains/
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/dec/23/glory-rails/?pagination=false
http://thelittlereview.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/public-intellectuals-trains-and-automobiles-tony-judt%E2%80%99s-post-war-world/
Another example of railway culture and way rail connected communities comes through the the hundreds of songs stories and poems mostly reflecting railway work and experience ... I have collected many of these on the Australian Railway Songs research blog at
ReplyDeletehttp://railwaysongs.blogspot.com/ this intangible heritage is worth preserving just as the railway workshops and museums are and of course railway songs in particular are still being written today in all parts of Australia.
Mark Gregory