Michael Lissack
executive approval, and expenses over $100 demand manager sign-off. The canyon approach instead emphasizes guiding principles: prioritizing customer delight in every interaction, communicating openly and respon- sively, balancing innovation with reliability, and using resources as if they were one’s own. The canyon approach provides guiding principles that channel behavior while allowing for interpretation and adaptation to specific contexts. This values-orientation becomes especially powerful in digital environments where conditions change rapidly and teams work across different contexts. Spotify exemplifies this approach through its famous “Squad Model.” Rather than creating rigid reporting lines and inflexible processes (canals), Spotify built a system of values-based boundaries that enabled tremen- dous autonomy while maintaining alignment. The model creates bound- aries through clear mission, shared values, visible work, and well-defined interfaces. Within these boundaries, squads have remarkable freedom to determine their own work methods, tools, and even physical locations. The result combines the benefits of structure with the advantages of au- tonomy—a true canyon rather than a canal or flood plain. Building Digital Canyons: Key Dimensions Creating effective canyons in today’s digital environments requires attention to several critical dimensions, beginning with depth. The depth of a canyon comes from deeply held values. Shallow values lead to shallow canyons that can be easily overrun or abandoned. Netflix provides an in- structive example with its famous culture deck. Rather than listing super- ficial values like “excellence” or “innovation,” Netflix articulated deeply considered principles like “Freedom and Responsibility” and “Context, Not Control.” These values weren’t simply wall decorations but deeply held convictions that guided real decisions—like their lack of vacation policy or expense policies. The test of canyon depth is whether values genuinely influence de- cisions, especially difficult ones. When Netflix decided to separate its
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