Michael Lissack CREATING COHERENCE THROUGH DESIGN If coherence is so valuable, how do organizations create it? Based on research with dozens of companies, I’ve identified five design principles that foster organizational coherence: 1. Purpose Cascading Coherence begins with clear articulation of purpose, but it only takes root when that purpose cascades through the organization. This doesn’t mean rigid alignment of goals and metrics, but rather a consistent narrative about why the organization exists and how different parts contribute to that reason for being. Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan illustrates this principle. The com- pany’s purpose—”making sustainable living commonplace”—cascades into brand-level missions, product development criteria, and individual performance goals. This doesn’t constrain innovation; it channels it to- ward a coherent direction. 2. Boundary Setting Counterintuitively, coherence requires bound- aries. Without clear constraints, options proliferate beyond our cognitive capacity. By establishing what’s out of bounds, organizations create space for autonomous action within coherent parameters. Amazon’s leadership principles function as boundaries that enable de- centralized innovation. “Customer obsession” and “bias for action” create guardrails within which teams can experiment widely. Jeff Bezos describes this as “allowing things to be chaotic in the middle, provided the ends are stable.” The boundaries aren’t detailed rules; they’re principles that shape perception and decision-making. 3. Ritual Design Organizational rituals—recurring practices in- vested with meaning—are powerful vehicles for coherence. They trans- form abstract values into concrete experiences, reinforcing shared identity across time and space. Salesforce’s “V2MOM” planning process (Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures) functions as a coherence ritual. Each year, the company’s leaders develop a V2MOM that articulates strategic priori- ties. This cascades through the organization, with each team developing
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