Michael D. Moberly     January 8, 2014    ‘A blog where attention span matters!’

I assume many readers of this blog are like me, that is, we only periodically give the notion of ‘company culture’ much genuine thought.  But, if asked, we could readily utter a sufficient number of adjectives, adverbs, and nouns that, once organized, would paint a fairly detailed operational portrait of our employer that would reveal the intricacies of our employer’s (company) culture.

I respectfully suspect however, individuals who are unfamiliar with my blogs’ overall mission may omit from their (company culture) descriptive’ the fact that company culture is a powerful and generally valuable intangible asset.

So, while we may understand how a company culture should be conveyed, many of us may not realize how important company culture has become in today’s businesses, as a valuable contributor – underlier to sources of revenue, competitive advantages, and overall sustainability.

In their new book titled Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland explain their view of the importance for companies to have a ‘design executive officer’ in the place.  Of the six defining characteristics which Giudice and Ireland believe DEO’s should possess, I believe a particularly relevant one is being a ‘systems thinker’ which they define in the following context which I have taken the liberty of adapting somewhat…

“despite their desire to disrupt and take risks, DEOs understand the interconnectedness of the work environment as a whole, that is, they recognize each part of the organization (probably) overlaps and influences other parts of the organization. They also recognize unseen connections, that surround what’s actually visible within acompany which helps give their disruptions intended, rather than chaotic, impact and makes their risk taking more conscious…”

More specifically, Giudice and Ireland suggest that business leaders who actually understand the transformative power and influence of a company culture (design) and embrace and engage its characteristics will lead in times of change.  Thus, as noted countless times in this blog, the economic fact that 80+% of most company’s globally, their value, sources of revenue, and ‘building blocks’ for growth, profitability, and sustainability either lie in or evolve directly from intangible (not tangible) assets, constitutes change, and leading that (economic, business) culture change is not merely important, it’s a necessity!

In many respects, Giudice and Ireland’s 2013 book, Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, describe, the qualities, many through examples, which they believe ‘a new breed’ of business management team leaders should possess which I do not disagree insofar as have a ‘design’ for purposefully identifying, unraveling, and engaging their intangible assets.  In other words, elevating the operational familiarity of the current, as well as the on-coming generation of company management teams to the sometimes disruptive strategies necessary to fully utilize and exploit their intangible assets.

This post was dually inspired by Marissa Brassfields Ridiculously Efficient’ blog post of December 24, 2013 and the authors Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland for their very intriguing 2013 book titled, Rise of the DEO: Leadership By Design.

• This blog post, as usual, is researched and written by me with the genuine intent it serve as a useful and respectful medium to elevate awareness and appreciation for a wide range of issues related to intangible assets within the global business community.  My posts are not intended to be quick bites of unsubstantiated commentary.
• Comments regarding my blog posts are encouraged and respected.  Should a reader elect to utilize all or a portion of my posts, full attribution is expected and appreciated. While visiting my blog readers are encouraged to browse other topics (posts) which may be relevant to their circumstance or business transaction.  I always welcome your inquiry at 314-440-3593 or m.moberly@kpstrat.com.