Kimberly’s 2 minute video of her “Discovering Your Corporate DNA” Workshop.
Most every kid who has the luxury of getting an education learns the basics of DNA. DNA is what causes a giraffe to have a long neck, kangaroos to have pouches, and porcupines to have quills instead of fur. Tadpoles turn into frogs, not butterflies, because of their DNA. And a lot of behavior has its roots in an organism’s DNA. Birds have wings, but dogs don’t, therefore dogs don’t fly. Snakes, lacking both legs and wings, resort to crawling. But what is the meaning of the DNA of an organization?
Corporate DNA is the historical reason why we behave this way, the genetic code at the root of these behaviors. Like the DNA of birds and snakes, it influences whether our organization will fly or crawl. Although we can change our behaviors radically, our DNA establishes some boundaries. A dog that’s been abused might bark aggressively or bite humans, but it won’t start eating worms, tweeting, or building a nest out of twigs.
If you want to discover your organization’s DNA and use it to unite your team, for cryin’ out loud don’t rush over to your PR department to pick up a stack of those glossy brochures containing the company history and poignant stories of the founders. I know managers who have hundreds of these tree-killers stashed in their office. Giving them out provokes cynicism, and pretty much guarantees they’ll go straight into the recycling bin.
Instead engage your people in a personal journey to discovery your organization’s unique identity, and then use that shared identity to create truly engaged employees and a truly cohesive team.
Our corporate DNA is a doorway, not a prison. The stories we tell influence our beliefs, our thinking, and ultimately our behaviors. Don’t go the way of companies like Enron! Create a shared story that you and your team will be proud to hear told 50 years from now.
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