Creating Powerful Products (Page 3)

"In her anger, the witch clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice around her hand, seized a pair of scissors and snip, snip, the lovely braids were cut off and lay on the ground . . ."

8. Discuss the breakdown of an Affecting Presence and the current effectiveness, potency and strength of the products, along with specific activities, which may have compromised their potency.

Affecting Presences do break down, or artistic cultural expressions never reach the level of an Affecting Presence for the following reasons:

• Formulas dominate over creativity.
• Works are not treated as special and unique.
• Works are irrelevant because of their shallowness of meaning.
• There is a lack of deep play.
• Internal and/or external continuity is lost.

If the application of formulas dominate the creative process in the creation of products, then the organization becomes more concerned with the physical form of the product and its meaning is lost sight of. Formulas tend to dominate when the organization is striving to mitigate risk and decrease uncertainty. Such organizational behavior is often the result of where the organization is in its corporate Life Cycle, which is discussed in the next section. Under these circumstances, artistic works in essence become divested of their affecting charge and become interesting to the public only in purely aesthetic terms.

When an Affecting Presence is dealt with in such a way, decadence sets in. Physical qualities become elaborated and the rococo develops. In other words, the work is highly decorative but with little substance. Form takes precedence over content. The Affecting Presence loses power and its voice, if it exists at all, is shrill and nears the vacuous.

We have already pointed out how a work loses power when its uniqueness and specialness is compromised. It is also likely that product saturation dilutes a work's potency and its allure declines. Likewise, a work loses its power when its themes and content are irrelevant and its meaning is shallow. If the work also lacks the elements of deep play, it once again loses power. If internal or external continuity is lost (see Chart 2), the significance of the work breaks down. At this point, works then become works of virtuosity: they are excellent in execution but lack the ability to be affecting.

Perhaps when recent Company products are examined, it can be seen if any of these elements that cause breakdowns of Affecting Presences are operating. Remember, success in these terms is not measured by the number of people experiencing the product nor the amount of scary elements there are, but the quality of the experience that makes it meaningful and memorable.

Summary

To conclude, the Affecting Presence's functions are: to assert social and individual values, the creation of delight, release of tensions, maintenance of cultural vitality, preventing the starvation for meaning, and what anthropologist Ruth Benedict calls 'compensatory daydreaming' (i.e., playing in the realm of fantasy), to name a few. There are economic functions as well: costs, revenues, and satisfying customers. And finally, Affecting Presences fulfill political and religious functions as well when they are used in rites and ceremonies (the Bible, Torah and the American flag, for example).

Truly, significant power abides within Affecting Works. Affecting Works and Affecting Presences are a confluence of several powers, some of which are:

• Metaphysical
• Historical
• Mythical
• Communal
• Formal elements of color, light, mass, volume, etc. that all work together
• Performance
• Deep play
• Timelessness

Affecting Presences and Works lose their power and influence, lose their allure, when:

• Formal elements and formulas are narrowly defined and continually repeated.
Themes and archetypes are redundant and few in number.
Meaning is too simplified.
Specialness and uniqueness are compromised.
Experience, performance and audience participation are ignored.
Deep play is not included.
Themes are too culturally, regionally or individually specific.
Mankind is not validated.

We will also add one more issue for consideration: the over-reliance on technology (high tech) at the expense of deep imaginative play (high touch). Technology, without viable content, is meaningless, producing only fleeting sensory reactions, not lasting affects.

In the end we must search for evidence of seriousness and mindfulness, value, feeling, import, content, deep play and performance if we are to identify and continue to create an Affecting Presence.

"The King's son escaped from the tower but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. He wandered quite blind about the forest . . ."

9. Discuss the implications of this information for CEI's future.

In the previous sections the elements contributing to the creation of Affecting Works and how they break down and lose power have been thoroughly discussed. As a result, it can be seen that the activities of the cultural model have direct bearing on the business model and the health of an organization's profits and customer satisfaction. But the business model also has direct influence on whether product power is alive and well.

Initially, perhaps the best method for discussing the connection between the business and cultural model is to examine the notion of a business Life Cycle. Doing so allows specific insights and interesting implications about the organization's ability for creating Affecting Works to come to light. Perhaps the organization is already aware of its Life Cycle stage, yet it is pertinent to review the implications of this body of knowledge for this examination of CEI's products.

A business Life Cycle model articulates the various stages an organization moves through during its lifetime. From inception through termination, organizations develop through distinct and identifiable phases. The organization's age does not determine which phase it is in. What does determine an organization's Life Cycle phase is its structure and behaviors in leadership, decision-making, innovation, work style, and so forth. Each phase of the Life Cycle is distinguished by unique characteristics that provide understanding into an organization's strengths, weaknesses and future direction.

Studies have shown that an organization's structure, processes, management styles, communication, work focus, efficiency and results all vary based upon the Life Cycle phase of an organization.

For any organization, understanding the Life Cycle model is critical. If the structure of the organization, work processes and communication is reflective of particular Life Cycle phases, then creating Affecting Presences and Works will be hampered. If the structure of an organization and its vision are in conflict, structure always wins. Vision is part of the creative process, which is part of CEI's identity and competitive edge. As a result, if the organization is not structured effectively to produce Affecting Works and leverage its creative assets, growing profits will be difficult.

If CEI is beginning to compromise the cultural model, and are in a particular Life Cycle phase where innovation, research and development are being undercut, then problems ensue. The ability to create Affecting Presences that will sustain CEI and keep it intact will be troublesome and inconsistent. Ultimately the organization will not be able to effectively capitalize on its existing Affecting Works nor recapture, sustain and grow the Company's reputation which is its competitive advantage.

Organizational Life Cycle stages range from the Idea and Starting Phases to the Growing and Stabilizing Phases to the Zenith Phase, to the Mature, Bureaucratic and Death Phases (Chart 3).

Successful growth and sustainability involves successful transitions between Phases. Organizations that remain in their Zenith Phase are able to avoid sliding into the Mature, Bureaucratic and Death Phases.

Once an organization has moved into the Mature Stage, however, a significant opportunity exists to renew the organization.

At this point, however, without objective quantitative data, it is difficult to determine where CEI is in its Life Cycle. Given its current financial picture and observable behaviors, the qualities of two likely phases (Zenith and Mature) are presented here for review and consideration. Some of these may currently apply to the Company. Brief descriptions of these phases are included in the following pages.

Zenith Phase

In this phase, the organization is results oriented, has plans and procedures to achieve efficiency, and yet has not lost its awareness of client needs and new opportunities. Budgets are stable and predictable. The organization's performance sets standards for the industry. The desired norms (values, behaviors, actions) of top management are close to the desired norms of lower management with little gap in between.

For an organization in the Zenith stage, there is a balance between a more formal organizational structure, and an organic structure that is looser and more flexible. Formal structures provide control and stability in turbulent environments while organic structures mitigate the increasing inflexibility that comes with increased control. When a formal structure seems to prevail in the management structure (strict adherence to using established channels), inflexibility is created and the organization will find it difficult to perceive and react to external environmental changes. This leads to the Mature and Bureaucratic Stages and decline.

Management in the Zenith phase is also able to mitigate becoming stagnant in strategy. Organizations who are slipping into decline are also those who believe in maintaining the existing strategy, since "whatever worked before should continue to work." This makes it quite difficult to challenge management's practice. As a result, new strategies are made, but only as small departures from existing strategies. Inertia sets in, the organization's ability to improve performance declines and the organization enters the Mature phase.

Key characteristics of organizations in the Zenith phase include:

• Main Activities
  • The desire is for predictability and managed change.
  • The focus of the organization is on the integration of decisions and strategies with an emphasis on systematic evaluation and cost-benefit analysis of alternatives.
• Leadership
  • Formalized by rank, position and title.
  • Only a small gap exists between the values, norms and behaviors
• Horizon
  • Long-range and balanced between understanding internal constraints and external changes in the environment.
• Clients
  • Input from clients is still aggressively sought, but through more formalized means such as surveys, polls, standardized comment cards, etc.
  • Statistical analysis of client satisfaction emerges.
• Change
  • Selective and decreasing.
• Risk Taking
  • Is carefully analyzed through formal risk assessments.
  • Money flows to research and development.
  • Innovation is focused on making new breakthroughs instead of just on incremental improvements.
• Communication
  • A combination of formal and informal.
  • Clear channels and procedures for communication exist.
  • Informal communications that step around formal channels are heavily used to continue to move projects forward.
• Management/Staff Relationship
  • There are clearly articulated roles and responsibilities with few overlaps and duplications of effort.
• Strengths
  • Is results oriented, has plans and procedures to achieve efficiency, yet has not lost its competitive edge, awareness of the marketplace and new opportunities.
  • Growth of sales and profits are stable and predictable.
  • Their performance sets standards for the industry.
• Future Direction:
  • If management is satisfied with existing conditions and results, the tendency will be to keep things stable and the aspiration for growth and change is reduced.
  • If the organizational structure becomes too ponderous and innovation is further reduced, inward entrenchment begins and the entrepreneurial spirit will eventually decline.
  • When the strict adherence to going through channels seems to prevail in the management structure, inflexibility results and the organization will find it difficult to perceive and react to external environmental changes.
  • If these indicators are present, the organization moves into the Mature and Bureaucratic Stages and an overall decline.

The Mature Phase

In the early phases of the Mature stage, the focus and emphasis for the organization is on getting work done through a system of administrative rules and procedures within various departments. Power and money drifts from innovative efforts, research and development initiatives to administration. Compartmentalization, along with the preponderance of, and adherence to, administrative rules and procedures, stifles creativity and innovation within the organization. The result is that work is accomplished incrementally which hinders the organization from responding rapidly to changing needs and expectations of customers or the marketplace. By the time the organization reaches the latter phases of the Mature stage, the creative and innovative environment that existed in previous life cycle stages has gone stale.

A few key characteristics of organizations in the Mature Phase include:

• Main Activities
  • Work becomes focused on increasing the organization's stability, and decreasing uncertainty, but this also leads to resisting change.
  • Administrative systems increase (staff become over burdened by rules and procedures, layers of paperwork, strict chain of command, etc.). Executives become more administrators than managers and leaders.
  • The organization begins to rely more on its past successes to carry them into the future.
  • How something is accomplished (following procedures) has greater value than what is done or why it is done.
• Leadership
  • Leadership is formal with executives beginning to isolate themselves from different layers within the organization.
  • The gap between the values, behaviors, and attitudes of top management and lower management increases.
• Horizon
  • Immediate, expedient solutions tend to predominate and long-range or long-term solutions are often ignored.
• Clients
  • Complacency sets in ("We have been here so long. They need us." Or "We are ordained by God and clients have no where else to go.").
• Change
  • The eagerness to change, find new opportunities and to excel decreases, stifling younger employees and forcing them to leave. Older employees adapt and become complacent.
• Risk Taking
  • The over-formalization of processes reduces risk-taking, innovation and flexibility, leading to the organization's eventual decline.
  • Risk is assessed for its internal political dangers rather than its external market opportunities.
  • New ideas are welcomed on the surface but received with suspicion.
• Communication
  • It becomes increasingly difficult to assemble together all of the people involved in decision making or to reach agreement, resulting in numerous meetings to make progress.
  • Because of compartmentalization, communications across departments are increasingly restrictive.
  • Turf wars predominate and effective communication between managers decreases.
• Management/Staff Relationship
  • There is an increasing lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities.
  • Many committees or specialized work groups are established to discuss issues and make recommendations, but recommendations are usually not implemented and ultimately, little action is taken.
• Strengths
  • There is a solid foundation of past accomplishments.
  • Very dedicated people are employed by the organization.
  • The organization has reliable and stable products and services.
  • Pickets of innovation and creativity exist.
  • This foundation creates the ability to launch into renewal efforts if senior executives so desire.
• Future Direction
  • If corrective measures are not taken, the organization will continue its slide into decline, eventually finding themselves deep into the Bureaucratic phase and ultimately, death.

Moving from the Mature phase back into a Zenith phase can be done and is more easily accomplished than when an organization finds itself in the Bureaucratic phase. If the Mature phase with its particular issues are not addressed and corrective action taken, the organization easily slides into the Bureaucratic phase.

Once an organization has moved into the Bureaucratic Phase, it is extremely difficult to move the organization back into an innovative growth pattern without drastic slash and burn measures. However, revitalization can take place. General Motors and IBM are two examples of organizations that were experiencing excessive bureaucracy and were able to re-invent themselves back into a more vibrant life cycle phase.

In order to maximize effectiveness, it behooves an organization to be aware of, and pay attention to, its location in the Life Cycle model.

"When the King's son approached, Rapunzel knew him, and fell on his neck and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again . . ."

10. Suggest next steps for continuing to evaluate CEI's products in order to formulate specific and very focused recommendations.
11. Suggest an initial iconography to graphically illustrate elements contributing to, or detracting from, product potency.

At CEI, both the business and cultural models are operating together. But since this is a preliminary study, it is important to understand both much better before any recommendations are made.

As it has been repeatedly stated, the only way to create Affecting Presences is through the creative process. The organization's continual success relies on constant innovation, but innovation that also includes producing Affecting Works instead of only new products.

The purpose of this paper was to provide a broader context (Folklore, Affecting Presences, and organizational Life Cycles) within which to evaluate the health and strength of CEI's products. It is premature to begin offering solutions before the problem has truly been properly defined and articulated. To do so creates a solution in search of a problem.

The first task must be to articulate the problem more carefully by answering the following questions:

1. What contributed to CEI and its ability to create Affecting Works in the past?
2. Was it easier to create Affecting Presences in the past? How and why?
3. What is the organization's consciousness today regarding innovation, inspiration and creativity?
4. How is the creative process being sustained and nourished today?
5. Since Folklore is deeply tied to the creative process, what Folklore resides in CEI and CEI products that can be further capitalized upon?
6. What myths, archetypes, values, specialness, deep play and meaning are imbedded within CEI's most powerful products as listed in the initial iconography?
7. How are CEI products treated as special both by the Company and by the general public?
8. Is there depth in play (deep play) connected with current or most recent products? To what degree and how?
9. Is CEI actually creating Affecting Works today, or is it creating works with only temporary power?
10. Where is CEI positioned in its Life Cycle and how does this impact its ability to be effective both in the business model and the cultural model?
11. Is CEI structured today to allow Affecting Presences to be created?
12. Is CEI effectively supporting the elements necessary to foster creativity and innovation?
13. What clearly is the image of CEI in the public's mind?
14. Is CEI producing works or engaging in activities counter to their image?
15. Can a knowledge management system for CEI assist staff in consistently producing Affecting Works?

Once answer these questions have been answered, the second important step is to develop an initial iconography of CEI's most influential products. This will allow a more fuller examination of the organization's Affecting Works and could open discussions about the elements of an Affecting Presence that are embodied in the work.

In conclusion -- the Affecting organization is inspiration-driven and organizations that produce Affecting Works liberate the best and most innovative part of its citizenry. This is a significant part of CEI's past. The question remains: will Affecting Works be a part of CEI's future in the fullest expression of their power?

" . . . and they lived happily ever after."

After reading the article and Report, if there are additional questions or comments, I welcome further discussions. I can be reached at kdietz@polaris-associates.com.

Newfolk :: NDiF :: Archive :: Issue 4.2 :: Page 1 :: Page 2 :: :: Rpt 1 :: Rpt 2 :: Rpt 3