Organization Diagnosis is the start point for any project. These typically include in depth interviews with the Leadership Team as well as a “diagonal slice” of the organization reporting to them. This is an essential step that educates us and ensures that the Leadership Team is in agreement of the Problem Definition. We will often follow the interview step with a focused surveys on such issues as a High Performing Team Culture Audit or, Cultural Blockages Assessment. These round out the picture. But the information is still held at the top of the hierarchy. We embrace the philosophies of Whole Systems Practitioners and look for ways to drive this diagnosis down throughout the organization. We find that unless the organization focuses on driving the diagnostic process deep into the organization, buy-in to the problem is not shared. If buy-in is not shared widely, any intervention will be sub-optimized. The table below describes some of the tools we use on large scale change projects and which we teach in our Executive Leadership Program.
Diagnostic Tool | Description |
Interviews | Done rapidly in person or by video call. Results published to Leadership Team within 24 hours |
Surveys | Web enabled surveys with open and closed ended questions about the culture. Use current and ever-evolving strategies for assessing culture. |
Whole Organization Diagnosis | Based on a directional approach of bringing “everyone in the room”, we run large sessions with 100+ people to lay out the initial diagnosis, the market challenges and solicit the organization’s decisions on crucial items such as strategy, execution requirements, technology road map, etc. This multi-day offsite produces action projects that take place as part of a larger change initiative. |