You know when your organisation has a strong culture. You can feel it, before you can describe it. And you can crush it with formalised words on paper.
Which brings me to Dave Gray, CEO of XPLANE. I really like what Dave and his company do. I met Dave (pictured right, by his own hand) a few years ago when we were doing some work for the same client.
Dave founded XPLANE, and they help their clients turn complex ideas into simple visualisations, in order to make communication more effective. I like the stuff they do: I’m a big fan of using images to convey ideas. You’ll have heard the line ‘a picture paints a thousand words’.
In this diagram, XPLANE have mapped out their own culture, to help employees to understand the company they’re working in as it grows.
Go to the Flickr page to see the diagram at full size, with annotations.
Organisational culture is a delicate thing. Try to specify it, force it, manage it, or suppress it, and you’re headed for the rocks. Leave a loose hand on the tiller, and help guide people towards the culture that they want to form – with elegant explanations like Dave’s company produces – and you might be onto a winner.