Sewing a patchwork quilt

Recently, I revisited Don Beck's course on Integral Spiral Dynamics. I have done this a couple of times before, but every revisit is an occasion to discover something new and valuable for both personal reflection and business. This time, it prompted me to contemplate the description of the current world situation through the lens of Spiral Dynamics. The diversity of cultural paradigms freely travel the world due to open borders and simplified procedure of international migration, forming a unique dynamic pattern that Don compares to a patchwork quilt.

The diversity of colors randomly coming into contact with each other during the migration process is a challenge of the modern world. Every combination of two or more colors leads to value conflicts that communities and governments of the countries where these conflicts occur have to resolve. It is not uncommon that those responsible for the peace and harmony of their citizens are not ready to address this or even have no capacity to understand the nature and strength of the processes that can arise at the borders between colors. That is why we have tension zones and open military conflicts worldwide; these are the places where value paradigms collide.

It is worth mentioning that societal tensions are minimal when the government of a country peacefully and harmoniously integrates the multicolored flows of migrants with various colors of local communities. Such diversity makes the country stronger by embracing the best aspects of different cultures that unites into a synergistic alloy that reinforces each participant, creating a new and powerful community. It is, for instance, the situation which is typical of Canada, where the acceptance of various cultures is ingrained in the metacultural paradigm of society and carefully nurtured by the state. Conversely, in places where the integration of different cultural paradigms lacks sufficient attention and resources, where various ethnicities form geographically defined residential zones, we witness flashes of conflicts or even wars.

At some point, I noticed that the corporate communities we work with resemble a patchwork quilt. Indeed, even if it's not a global corporation where the presence of representatives from different cultures has long been the norm, but rather a small European startup, we still require individuals with various value concepts to fulfill different functions. In the orange realm of the sales department, people are quite different from those in the green principality of engineering developers, and all of them are radically distinct from the population of the blue-orange kingdom of managers and the violet accounting realm.

Advantages of patchwork quilts

Indeed, it would be easier to create a monocultural team that closely aligns with the values of the founder. It would be understandable, predictable, and manageable for him. However, this type of team would struggle to work efficiently and productively as for a significant portion of its members their inherent qualities will not match the functional duties they are supposed to perform. To sustain the vitality, business requires diverse processes that demand the presence of individuals with distinct characteristics.

Often, business founders attempt to independently build their teams, especially during the initial stages of company development when funds for hiring quality external recruiters may be scarce. It's not merely a matter of financial constraints, though. The primary motivation behind such a strategy is the difficulty of trusting individuals who look strange to the founder. Based on our experience, the majority of founders exhibit a fairly typical values-behavior profile: identified as "entrepreneurs" (as per Dr. Adizes' management types classification) with a prevalent or prominently expressed "orange" (achievement-oriented) color in the Spiral Dynamics code. Consequently, they seek to hire individuals with similar characteristics.

However, individuals with an entrepreneurial personality type often excel at generating ideas but struggle with task management due to a tendency to avoid delving into details. Moreover, they may face challenges in overseeing task execution as the priority of a task diminishes for them over time, as it gets overshadowed by new ideas and tasks. What they truly need are individuals who can meticulously document their ideas, plan their implementation, and systematically see the execution through to completion and know people who can complete them. Finding or identifying such individuals can be difficult for entrepreneurs, as it requires specialized compatibility assessment methodologies, which they may not possess or may not consider necessary to use.

As a result, we observe a company where everyone gets along well with the founder, forming a tight-knit and amicable team. However, business processes are executed sporadically and only when necessary, reflecting the laid-back nature of this friendly mob. If so, we find ourselves exerting considerable effort to introduce some level of diversity in order to establish a structure within the team that aligns with the business processes that are necessary for the company's existence and growth.

The most common mistake in the Hi-Tech companies we mostly work with is that much effort is devoted to the creation of a completely "green" environment in which variations in productivity are fostered in the most tolerant way. The founders of Hi-Tech companies are often former development engineers who quite naturally feel while working in the atmosphere of creativity and the freedom that creativity requires. Usually, the team that started the product development automatically takes up management positions as the company grows, and this not only creates a "green" layer at the very top, but also spreads the appropriate approach throughout the company structure. Yesterday's engineers try to maintain the familiar environment when the company expands; thus creative individuals whose values are about liberty and independence end up in positions that require discipline and systematic approach. As a result, the company does not receive the necessary structural elements created by the carriers of the "blue" component and the vector of development and energy of competition created by the "orange" component.

If it is not properly assisted in time, the company of this type is doomed to be crushed by its own complexity at a certain stage of development. Of course, it would be dreadful if every person carried only one color. In reality, we all have several sets of values that we are able to switch on when we find ourselves in the right conditions. Therefore, almost always, some part of the structure and motivation is held by those who have the appropriate properties (if they were in the right places at the right time). All we need to do is examine the existing structure and determine what weaknesses need to be addressed or how to redistribute functions and responsibilities among existing team members and what positions need to be filled by new specialists.

However, this is just the beginning of the most interesting part. These pieces need to be stitched together. The process of weaving these elements together is the most challenging aspect of building organizations that possess a natural structure for all their processes and the ability for self-development. Those clients of ours who intuitively attempt to construct a diverse structure on their own often encounter difficulties and failures during this intricate process.

Quilt craft

How do you make a patchwork quilt beautiful and solid? It is what we want to achieve when we fold and sew the quilts. Our task is complicated by the fact that our quilts not only have different color combinations, but also are quite complex in shape, just like puzzle pieces.

First of all, you need to carefully match the pieces to each other, both in shape and pattern, as if we put together a complex jigsaw puzzle with a small pattern and color gradient. In a puzzle of this kind it is almost impossible to accurately determine the position of an element by the pattern on it, because they are all very similar. First, we put the pieces into piles following the color similarity, and then we look for those pieces that are more similar in shape and can fit together tightly.

The same way we work when we try to create a patchwork quilt of a corporate structure. Our task is more complicated than putting together a jigsaw puzzle, though; there is no general pattern at the beginning. It needs to be defined and created and the desired pattern depends on how the business founder sees his creation, the products it produces, and how he defines success for himself and how he wants to be involved in the processes inside. This determines the set of processes that will be needed and their content. This is how the contours of the future image appear. Then we need to paint it with colors according to what properties each process requires from its performer.

The next task is that the existing pieces should be given a place in the picture, because we don't want to lose any person? from the already formed community who feel happy to work together. It's not always possible, but usually those who don't fit into the picture don't have a strong hold on the community either. This is how we cover part of the puzzle. For the rest of the picture, we now need to find a cover from the pieces we don't have. To do this, we formulate the requirements for the candidates we need, taking into account many parameters (profiles) of the production environment in which the specialist will work: founders, direct managers, teammates, subordinates, a set of functional responsibilities - all this affects the combination of value characteristics that a person will need to feel happy working in the place.

It seems that we are dealing not with a simple two-dimensional puzzle but rather a complex five-dimensional one, which we mathematically transform into a two-dimensional representation for the purpose of comparing candidate profiles.

After all the elements of the quilt are found and assembled, the entire system is ready to operate; well-placed performers will be internally motivated to carry out the necessary functions. However, any strain has the potential to tear our quilt along the seams if the pieces are not securely fastened. Therefore, the process of stitching begins right from the start when the pieces are assembled.

What is the thread in this metaphor? It is communication. Well-established communication can harmonize different communication styles and ways of perceiving reality in a way that makes information circulate without delays or distortions.

Thread by thread

How to build the right communication? This is where Dr Adizes comes in, as in his writings he spends much time eliciting this issue.

The main thing that is needed for communication to happen naturally and without delays is trust and respect. The absence of those creates resistance to communication despite there might be strong motivation. If there is trust, there is no need to distort information or limit its scope in any way. The "receiving party" can be assumed to do no harm, even if what they hear may somehow negatively characterize the "transmitter" or someone else. In communities with a lack of trust, information stops circulating freely, and if it is forced, it will be artificially embellished, reduced to the maximum extent possible and "cleaned up". In such an environment, managers usually hear only what they want to hear and are completely unaware of what is really going on in their team. Respect means everyone’s liberty to have and express their opinions without the risk of being judged, accused of lack of competence or devalued.

Trust and respect can be built between individuals, and it will be a long process. For one person to trust another it requires repeated mutual demonstrations of shared values and predictable behavior. Similar happens with respect: confidence in competence is crucial to avoid casting doubt. Such relationships typically develop after a significant number of interactions and prolonged observation. However, any negative experience has the potential to disrupt what has been built.

However, there is a more effective way – to make trust and respect integral parts of the corporate culture, serving as the most essential shared values. Every individual deserves trust if they haven't proven otherwise, and every person is worthy of respect, irrespective of their reputation, simply by being a member of the community. In an environment that adopts this cultural paradigm, communication issues are less likely to arise.

How to create such an environment? It's not difficult, but it is hard and time-consuming. Any culture is created by persistence and consistency over time, and the type of culture we need will also restrain the natural tendency of people to behave competitively, which is most common among business founders, who should be the ones to start implementing the culture.

Start by not shooting the messenger of bad news. First and foremost, the environment should be safe. If someone is trying to point out a mistake, make sure you hear and acknowledge the fact that such an opinion exists. Use this awareness as a starting point for self-reflection. You may not necessarily have made a mistake in the decision itself, but you've certainly erred in conveying it to the audience. Try to rectify that. Never argue or immediately try to convince the opponent. Promise to contemplate their thoughts and arguments, and respond as soon as possible. Revisit the issue in a day – with the passage of time, your perspective on the situation will become more measured and comprehensive.

Never judge and, more importantly, never devalue a person when you think they are wrong. This is especially tempting if you lack arguments to persuade them. It often occurs in response to aggression towards you. Resist the urge.

Even evaluating actions and decisions separately from their author can be perceived as an attempt to evaluate the person themselves. Very few people can truly take criticism of their actions neutrally. Subconsciously, we link our abilities with the results of our utilization of them. The best approach is to create conditions under which individuals reflect on their own results and critically evaluate their actions.

Moreover, do not allow yourself or others to publicly evaluate third parties and their actions. Never publicly judge people who are not present, and refrain from evaluating anything related to them, including the products of their activities. Those present will feel in danger of facing a similar situation, and to protect themselves, they will start replicating the same behavior pattern – "if I can't be sure I won't be attacked in my absence, I would better start devaluing everyone around me in advance, so that I appear as little devalued as possible when an attack on me happens." Remember that a collective sense of safety is significantly more important than the immediate impact of abrupt actions that can be painful for community members.

You might feel challenged restraining yourself, especially if you have an "entrepreneurial" mindset. However, it is crucial to do so because overall safety is only achieved when everyone works towards it without exception. Any deviation from the culture of acceptance and respect, if identified and not corrected, undermines the sense of safety in the whole community. Remember that "culture eats strategy for breakfast," which should provide you with the motivation to stay on the chosen path.

Start with yourself, and the right behavior model will gradually spread around you. For a more effective implementation of "safe" communication in the community, create rules – a code of conduct. This way, you will quickly communicate your cultural paradigm to a broad audience and provide every community member with the opportunity to address deviations from the cultural paradigm at any time by appealing to the rules.

Establish a protocol for meetings and discussions that allows everyone to express their opinions on an equal footing, regardless of their status. Demand unwavering adherence to this protocol and adhere to it yourself. There should be no exceptions - those who can bypass rules created to ensure safety become a threat and their presence undermines all that you are trying to build.

Over time, you will feel the improvement and expansion of information flows – additional feedback loops will be activated in all processes, allowing information about errors and deviations to be freely communicated. This will enable quick and effective improvements to the entire system.

The economic impact of this is challenging to quantify. It's akin to trying to start an old, rusty, and corroded engine – initially, it may barely turn over and you have to invest additional energy to get it running. However, gradually cleaning and lubricating all the components, you end up with a system that not only turns smoothly on its own but also generates energy.

A brief craft quilts use guide?

By building a culture, you stitch together individual pieces, making them components of a unified system that can move and create value according to your vision. Moving through the constructed channels, information flows will eventually turn into valuable products. However, don't forget that trust and respect alone are not enough for effective work – they only remove barriers in communication. It's essential to have the desire to transmit information and to understand it correctly on the other side. The question "Why?" is the doorway to understand motivation as primarily we should have a reason to initiate communication.

Implementing a culture of trust and respect will build and clear the channels for information flows. However, to create a current, you need to establish a slope. Understanding the purpose you aim for "pumps" the system with potential creative energy. The higher and more powerful the purpose of your business, the more energy each member of your team will bring to it. I've seen businesses where the owner has to exert excessive efforts just to keep the business running and those where the owner receives powerful energy support from the entire team, exponentially multiplying every effort invested.

Indeed, the founder's work after creating and launching the business essentially boils down to these two simple things: creating a slope (strategic motivation) and keeping communication channels clean (maintaining a culture of trust and respect). If there is a powerful and inspiring goal for everyone, a system built to achieve that goal, and channels between the elements of that system that are free from contamination, the system will continue to work and evolve autonomously, without unnecessary interference. In most cases, such interference may even harm the system's functioning.

Monitor the team culture, create additional mechanisms for its implementation and protection, organize strategic sessions for the team to pull people out of everyday routine and remind them of the most important — pave the way from the main goal via strategy to everyday motivation, but never interfere with operational activities. You have assembled this quilt, stitched it, and breathed life into it. It functions like a little universe created by you, and within it, just like in the real universe, countless new connections form; you may not be aware of some of them, but can certainly disrupt through careless interference.

Keep your vision clear and lofty; you are the only one who can afford to do this consistently. You are the one who is obligated to do it. Good luck to you!