38.
(p. 520)
Scenario: Verve, Inc.
Marie, the department manager at Verve, Inc., has been working in the position for five years.
Marie starts every Monday morning with a 60-minute department meeting where each member in
the department gets five minutes to report progress, share stories of success and failure, and
seek general input, advice, and information. Jeremy is responsible for sharing an anecdote, an
account, or a legend about the company for every first Monday of the month to keep everyone
reminded of where they work and what is important. Marie has created the workplace for her
department in a totally open forum. There are no walls or cubicles, and everyone including Marie
is in one open room. Marie has created a skull with a victory flag on its forehead as her
department’s corporate logo representing the “victory or die trying” motto for her group. The group
has succeeded in achieving some exceptional results in the past two years.
What Marie and Jeremy are doing are parts of the observable artifacts component of culture.