Organizational Diagnostic "Molecular" Model

Robin Cook

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Introduction

The Organizational Diagnostics Molecular model is designed to be an effective diagnostic tool for organizational innovation practitioners. The model captures the key elements that make up Innovative organizations and uncovers their interactions and influences on each other. Developing a key understanding of these elements will allow a practitioner to analyze any organization and develop an approach for organizational change that will move that organization towards constant, self-sustaining innovation. While this model was originally conceived for use specifically in the context of organizational innovation, it has application in a very broad spectrum of Organizational Development contexts and issues. 

Model Conception

Between January of 1998 and April of 1999, fifteen professionals from across the U.S., as well as from Canada and the U.K., came together to form the second class of the Innovation University Best Practices Fellowship.  During five sessions, each in a different city, the team visited or heard presentations from roughly 20 of the most innovative organizations in the world including but not limited to Dell Computer, GSD&M, Nortel, Manco, Roberts Express, and Cirque du Soleil.  Perhaps the most striking lesson we learned was just how much these disparate organizations had in common.  Virtually every one of the organizations we visited displayed nine shared characteristics:

• Strong, clearly expressed shared values

• An appreciation of/for the whole individual and everything they bring to the organization

• Cultures that encourage openness and playfulness

• Celebrate successes constantly

• A strong, clearly communicated sense of history

• Intense customer focus

• Clear focus on trends, even those that do not seem to directly effect current businesses

• Cross functional teams

The conception of the molecular model was based on these observations and is an attempt of the team to distill the key learning in the form of a tool that would have broad applicability towards diagnosing and solving complex organizational issues.  

Building the Organizational Diagnostic Model – One step at a time

The first step towards developing the model was to identify the key elements of an innovative organization. The team identified these elements to be those of Mission, Values and Culture.

• Mission - The underlying purpose of the organization, toward which all activities are ultimately directed.

•  Values – The underlying principles that are commonly subscribed to & are employed (or not employed) to fulfill the mission.

• Culture - The mores & norms, both implicit & explicit, that define all levels of behavior within an organization.

Given the strong influence each of these elements have on each other and virtually every other aspect of an organization, we decided to place them in the center of our model and view them as the  “nucleus” of our molecule.

Figure 1:  “Nucleus” Elements

Our next step was to identify additional elements that play critical roles in an organization and the nucleus element that influences them most heavily. We identified these to be those of Systems, Structure, Strategy, Environment and Management style. 

• Systems - The infrastructure, including workflows, methodologies, and technologies that support the structure.   

• Structure - The network of formal & informal relationships, including lines of communication & authority, etc., that allow an organization to function.

• Strategy - The tactics and methods used to achieve the mission.

• Environment – The physical surroundings, including facilities, workspaces, and meeting areas

• Management Style - Management’s manner of relating to the organization, its employees and its mission amongst other things.

In our experience, Systems and Structure were most strongly influenced by Mission, Strategy was most strongly influenced by Values and Environment and Management style most strongly influenced by Culture. We represented these five additional elements in our model as orbiting their primary influencing nuclear elements.

Figure 2:  “Orbital” Elements

Lets analyze each of these elements in detail.

Systems

The organizations we visited were living examples of innovative systems at work.  When American Greetings decided to develop a line of topical cards, they realized that their usual product development system, which operates on an 18 to 20 month cycle, would simply not work.  The new product development system cut that time down to approximately 6 – 8 weeks .  The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago has developed 1, 2, and 3 day Imagineering Institutes as part of a methodology for generating ideas for new products and services and developing creative solutions to operational problems. These are marketed both internally and externally to other non-profits and small to medium companies. Dell University offers another example of innovative systems at work through the use of the company’s intranet to develop and foster a new learning model.