The Next Next Common Sense Coherence Has Building Blocks Too Coherence has its own building blocks: purpose and identity. In a context where these two are aligned, you may not see them as distinct and it may not matter. In a context where they are not aligned (or not aligned for all concerned), seeing them separately is the crucial first step to trying to attain that alignment. This alignment challenge has become particularly acute in today’s digital organizations that span multiple geographies, cultures, and work modalities. Remote and hybrid work arrangements have forced companies to be more explicit about the building blocks of coherence, as they can no longer rely on physical proximity and informal interactions to create alignment. Companies like GitLab—a fully remote organization with no offices and employees in over 65 countries—have addressed this by creating ex- plicit artifacts that decompose and articulate their purpose and identity. Their 2,000+ page public handbook breaks down the company’s mis- sion, values, and operating procedures in remarkable detail, creating a shared reference point that enables coherent action across a distributed workforce. Victor Kiam of Remington (the electric shaver company) did not see the distinction between purpose and identity. He offered employees a ten-dollar bill if they could recite the company’s mission statement when he asked them. Having each employee able to recite a canned speech was an exercise in identity, but said nothing cogent about purpose. (Leaving aside the employees’ desire to get the extra $10.) The GM example of forcing the junior executive to give a presentation which he could not buy into was the opposite. Purpose was confused with identity. The executive was told get in line or get out. Tom Watson made a similar mistake with Joseph Woodland. Watson saw Woodland for what Watson wanted him for, not for who Woodland was. It took 19 years for Joseph Woodland to arrive in what for him was an aligned position.
113
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease