FOUNDATION
Whether a house is made of wood or bricks or whether it is modular or prefab, it always needs a foundation.
The foundation of a house plays three main roles:
- Supporting the weight of the whole building to keep it upright;
- Preventing humidity from the soil from filtering in and damaging the structure;
- Protecting the building from damaging forces of nature such as floods, ground movements and strong winds.
Therefore, the foundation of a residential house provides the structure on which to build, develop, sustain and expand the house. This is why the Foundation represents one of the key sections of our House Model.
So, What Would Happen If the Foundation of a House Were Weak or Poorly Designed?
Problems in the foundation can generate property damage ranging from wall fissures to plumbing leaks and even to the collapse of the building itself, at any level of severity and cost. If an organization has problems in its Foundation, it will be difficult for it to perform well and thrive in the market. Therefore, we want to drive your attention to the importance of designing a solid and resistant Foundation.
The purpose of the House Model is to convey this exact idea in organizational settings. Every organization, regardless of its market or its organizational complexity, should build a solid and resistant Foundation upon which it can function effectively, grow and endure in the market.
We have identified three key sections that provide the Foundation of organizations with the strength and robustness necessary to support efficient organizational performance and growth – the Core, Mechanical Room and Human Talent.
CORE
The House Model invites users to think of the Core of an organization as the section containing these key organizational components – mission, vision, culture and values.
The House Model brings a novel approach to the field of management by creating a place where these concepts can exist within the organization (the Core section) and work together as a unit in the form of a character that we call CORY.
- A. The Mission is the legs of the Vision. A vision without a mission cannot walk; it is merely an expression of desire. The mission makes the vision more realistic.
- B. The Vision becomes the eyes of the Mission. A mission without a vision simply walks in a specific direction while going nowhere.
- C. The Culture becomes the heart of the Mission. It provides the organization with the personality and emotional engagement to act in a certain way and make sense of the job to be done.
- D. Values are what provide strength to Culture. Culture without values is insipid and weak.
- E. Without Mission, Vision and Culture, companies are just driven by profits, thereby losing their competitive direction. Profitability is a limiting factor in the organization’s life cycle, helping a company endure but not compete. In order to compete, a company needs a strategy. So, in order to implement a competitive strategy, it’s crucial for an organization to understand what its mission is and to develop the right business model that suits the strategy. Profitability is not what makes companies different; all profit-based organizations want to be profitable and to increase their revenue streams. What makes companies different is the understanding of their mission and vision in the market as well as how they can leverage their culture to boost organizational performance. Only then will companies be able to design a high-value proposition and competitive strategy to make a difference amongst competitors.
MECHANICAL ROOM
The Mechanical Room is another key section of the Foundation of the house. Think of this section in literal terms – the Mechanical Room helps you operationalize the entire organization.
In a residential house, the mechanical room is usually an isolated area far from people, where mechanical and electric equipment is placed to provide comfort and make family life easier.
In the House Model, the Mechanical Room represents three organizational components – structures, systems and standards – that create the necessary conditions and organizational framework on which the company operates and team members behave, communicate and interact with one another and stakeholders.
Effectively designing and implementing these components creates a boost of synergy. We like to think of this synergy as a gear wheel that helps you, as a leader, run your organization as smoothly and effectively as possible, and we therefore refer to the synergy of these components – structures, systems and standards – as the 3-S Gear Wheel. These gears serve as an analogy combining the three components that help you operationalize your organizational house in order to run all processes and operations more effectively.
STRUCTURES
The first “S” of the 3-S Gear Wheel is called structures. In the House Model, think about structures as the necessary scaffolding that provides strength and support to the entire organization in four specific subcomponents – learning, organizational, legal and financial
SYSTEMS
The second “S” of the 3-S Gear Wheel is systems. The House Model addresses four specific systems – communication, feedback, customer database management (CDM) and accounting – and these systems encompass crucial activities and information that allow a company to operate more effectively. Think of these systems as the pipelines providing a residential house with electricity or water. In the organizational house, these systems are the pipelines that allow better communication and information flow.
STANDARDS
The third “S” of the 3-S Gear Wheel corresponds to standards. The House Model refers to standards as the set of guiding principles, rules and desired practices upon which the organization expects the attitudes and behaviors of team members to be based.
HUMAN TALENT
Human talent, another block of the Foundation of the house, refers to people. However, make no mistake – it does not refer to the location of people but to the space for leaders to think strategically about the people in their organizations.
Human talent is all about the people of the organization. For this section, the House Model frames two different perspectives of analysis – the Organizational Side and the Human Side.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL SIDE
The Organizational Side considers people from the viewpoint of the business, focusing on how people fit and perform in the company. From this perspective, the House Model stresses the relevance of reflecting on the following questions:
- I. What is the desired leadership style of the company? How does it differ from reality? Are there any areas of the company with no clear leadership? Do the company’s leaders need training?
- II. Does the company have all the people it needs? Are there too many people, or too few? In which areas? Are there areas that are overloaded with work?
- III. Are people working in the right positions? Do people have the necessary skills their positions require? Do people need training in certain skills?
- IV. What is the turnover rate of the company? Why is that?
- V. How is the company’s team performance? Are goals being achieved by the company’s teams?
- VI. What expectations does the company have for its people?
THE HUMAN SIDE
The Human Side places the attention of leaders on people as human beings. It requires an understanding of people as individuals who have dreams, talents, passions, fears, concerns, doubts, expectations, beliefs and values. From this perspective, the House Model encourages reflection on the following questions:
- I. How well do you know your people? The majority of them must have dreams or aspirations; do you know them?
- II. Do you understand the mood and state of mind of your people? Do you know if they are going through any difficult situations?
- III. Do you know the expectations of people working in your company?
- IV. Do you know what talents they have? Do they have chances to apply their talents at work? Are their positions aligned with their talents?
- V. Are the people in your company motivated? How much of their passion, talent and motivation do your people bring to work every day?
- VI. Are the people in your company committed and happy?
