Organizations are like People

An organization is like a person. It can be healthy, sick or even dead. It can be born (or re-born). It needs to be fed and entertained. And it needs regular sleep. It's interesting to me that an organization has a personality. It can be social or private, funny or somber, passive or aggressive (or passive aggressive), steadfast or volatile , frivolous or staid.

Take software companies.

The following roughly describe some actual individuals I know:

• Woman: steady, attentive to details, and averse to big risks.


• Boy: creative, brilliant and unfocused.


• Girl: thoughtful, honest and passive.


• Man: litigious, aggressive, and arrogant.

If you look at each carefully, you'll also see the personality of at least one software company.

I initially went through significant culture shock in coming from Microsoft to the Church. It was like dancing with two completely different partners. Microsoft is an environment where confrontation and debate rule the day, where decisions are usually made based on the bottom line, and where a meritocracy allows young, sometimes impetuous leaders to rise quickly through the ranks, creating a wake as they rise. The Church is... Well... Not like that. Decisions are made based on revelation and a deep concern for the members of the Church. Confrontation and debate is replaced by consideration and respect. Leaders are typically much more mature and steady. Imagine how typical management challenges like recruiting, process design, performance management, and policy compliance would be different in those two environments.

With that in mind, we set out to define the personality, or culture, we wanted our organization to embody. This is way more challenging than it sounds. As a leadership team, we sat down and created a list of attributes we thought represented the organization we felt we could become and which would be most effective in the Church environment. We left off wholly obvious things like "we're honest" and "we believe the Church is true." Some of the things which made the list, however, might seem obvious but needed reinforcement.

These attributes we codified apply to the I.T. department of the Church only. Other groups within the Church have similar, but different sets. I should mention that the book Journey to the Emerald City provided a very valuable context and framework for thinking about these "cultural beliefs." Hyrum Smith's work on having a "personal constitution" was also influential.

Over the next few weeks, I'll list and explain these attributes as I get time. Feel free to comment and I'll post some of the interesting and relevant ones.

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