The Next Next Common Sense
Strategic Coherence: Alignment between the organization's capabil- ities, market position, and environmental trends. Apple's strategic coher- ence stems from the alignment between its design philosophy, ecosystem strategy, and customer experience focus. Operational Coherence: Consistency in how work gets done across the organization, even as the specific activities vary widely. Toyota's pro- duction system creates operational coherence through shared principles applied across diverse manufacturing contexts. Cultural Coherence: Alignment between espoused values and ac- tual behaviors. Netflix's culture of "freedom and responsibility" creates coherence by explicitly linking autonomy with accountability. In each case, coherence doesn't simplify the underlying complexity— it creates a navigable pattern within it. Like a jazz ensemble improvising around a melody, a coherent organization maintains alignment even as it responds to changing conditions. Creating and maintaining coherence in the digital age requires new approaches. The command-and-control mechanisms of the industrial era are too slow and rigid. The "move fast and break things" ethos of early digital companies is too chaotic for sustainable value creation. Instead, organizations need what I call "dynamic coherence"—the ability to maintain alignment of purpose and action even as the specific forms of that alignment evolve. This capability depends on the ten princi- ples that form the core of this book:
1. Using simple guiding principles 2. Respecting diverse mental models 3. Employing landscape metaphors 4. Combining and recombining building blocks 5. Embracing multiple roles 6. Creating canyons, not canals 7. Telling powerful stories 8. Sending out scouting parties 9. Posting and attending to road signs
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