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title: 'Job Profile for Ulla: Culture and Organizational Excellence Architect'

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# Job Profile for Ulla: Culture and Organizational Excellence Architect

## Context and Philosophy

### The Importance of Culture and Environment
A prominent thinker once stated that **60% of failures occur due to the environment**, whether at a personal, team, or organizational level. Research from the Harvard Business Review (HBR) supports this by suggesting that **70-80% of organizational success** is driven by internal factors such as **leadership, strategy, operations, and culture**, while **20-30%** is attributed to external factors like market conditions and regulatory environments. This highlights the critical importance of fostering a robust internal ecosystem for sustained success.

The relationship between **environment and culture** is both interconnected and reciprocal. While **environment** sets the stage (context), **culture** defines the values, behaviors, and shared beliefs that guide organizational actions. Together, they shape the outcomes of any organization.

- **Culture**: Refers to shared values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors within an organization. It is shaped by how people interact, leadership expectations, and the organization’s identity. Examples include collaboration, innovation, and trust.
- **Environment**: Refers to the conditions in which an organization operates. It includes internal factors (physical workspace, policies) and external factors (market conditions, regulations). Examples include office design, economic shifts, and organizational structures.

**Key Insight:** “Culture is people-centric” while “Environment is contextual.” Culture evolves through shared experiences, while the environment can be designed or imposed.

## Visionary Metaphor
> "Culture is like a river flowing through fertile soil. The soil provides the foundation for growth, while the river carries energy, ideas, and progress. When both are healthy, they nourish the organization, creating a thriving ecosystem. If the soil becomes barren or the river polluted, growth withers, and the flow is disrupted."

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryg0C4VK8Je.png)


## Role Overview

**Position Title**: Culture and Organizational Excellence Architect  
**Primary Mission**: To design, nurture, and sustain organizational ecosystems that balance culture and environment, enabling growth, collaboration, and innovation across all levels of the company—including personal, team, C-level executives, team members, and technical leads.

## Key Responsibilities

1. **Culture Design and Leadership**:
   - Define and embed shared values, norms, and behaviors that align with organizational goals.
   - Foster psychological safety, trust, and collaboration across teams and leadership.
   - Champion a culture of innovation and adaptability.

2. **Environmental Optimization**:
   - Assess and design physical, digital, and procedural environments to support organizational success.
   - Ensure alignment between internal conditions (workspace, policies) and external demands (market trends, regulations).

3. **Leadership Collaboration**:
   - Partner with executives to align strategic goals with cultural imperatives.
   - Act as a mentor to leaders, guiding them in creating people-centered workplaces.

4. **Change Management**:
   - Lead initiatives to align culture and environment during periods of transformation (e.g., mergers, technological shifts).
   - Address and mitigate cultural or environmental barriers to organizational growth.

## Core Competencies and Strengths

- Expertise in building collaborative, cross-functional cultures.
- Skilled at connecting rational and emotional aspects of leadership and teamwork.
- Deep understanding of diversity and inclusion, leveraging strengths-based approaches (e.g., CliftonStrengths).
- Proven ability to operationalize desired actions for measurable outcomes.
- Strategic mindset with a history of fostering innovation and achieving business turnarounds.

## Metaphors as Cultural Anchors

| **Metaphor** | **Explanation**                                                                                     | **Key Message**                                                                               |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **River**    | Culture is like a river that flows, adapts to obstacles, and shapes its surroundings.               | Highlights movement, adaptability, and the importance of guidance and clarity.                |
| **Soil**     | Culture is like fertile soil that nurtures growth and stability when cared for.                     | Focuses on the foundational and nurturing aspects of culture.                                 |
| **Fire**     | Culture is like fire—when controlled, it provides warmth and energy, but if neglected, it can harm. | Underlines the balance between energy and control, and the risk of neglect or mismanagement.  |
| **Wind**     | Culture is like the wind—unseen but impactful, shaping the organization in noticeable ways.         | Reflects the intangible yet powerful influence of culture on behavior and outcomes.           |
| **Garden**   | Culture is like a garden that needs regular care, weeding, and nurturing to thrive.                 | Stresses the importance of constant effort to maintain a positive and healthy culture.        |
| **Mirror**   | Culture is like a mirror that reflects the organization’s true values and behaviors.                | Points to authenticity and the alignment (or misalignment) between stated and actual culture. |

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Hkf_B4tI1x.png)

## How This Will Be Achieved

This vision will be brought to life by:

- **Building Teams Based on Strengths**: Leveraging tools like the CliftonStrengths (Gallup) model to create teams that thrive on individual and collective strengths.
- **Boosting Competitive Advantages Through Service Excellence**: Drawing on methodologies like Ron Kaufman’s UpYourService to differentiate and excel.
- **Developing Leadership in Ecosystems**: Using insights from the "Ecosystem Handbook" to cultivate leadership that thrives in interconnected environments.
- **Turning Around Businesses With Measurable Results**: Applying proven strategies to drive tangible and impactful organizational change.
- **Virtuous Leadership**: Encouraging ethical, compassionate, and vision-driven leadership to inspire teams and build trust.
- **Contextual Intelligence**: Fostering the ability to adapt knowledge and approaches to diverse and evolving circumstances.

This approach will be implemented throughout the year, offering **vertical slices** of these topics, akin to layers in a cake. Ulla will provide continuous and integrated guidance, ensuring a holistic understanding and application of these principles.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1f_FNKUkx.png)


## Key Impact Goals

1. **Foster Thriving Ecosystems**: Build environments where culture and environment align to drive success.
2. **Inspire Leadership Excellence**: Equip leaders with the tools to model and nurture desired cultural values.
3. **Sustain Innovation**: Create processes and spaces for continuous growth, experimentation, and learning.
4. **Measure and Adapt**: Continuously assess cultural health and environmental efficacy, implementing improvements.

## Compensation

While Ulla's knowledge and expertise cannot be fully compensated, as one hour of her guidance equates to tens of hours of value due to the real impact she will bring to Emma, the company plans to provide her with **2,000 euros per quarter** as a representation of appreciation. This amount, while significant, remains far below the true value and transformative effect Ulla will contribute. As such, the compensation is driven by **impact and value**, not merely hours worked.

## Why Ulla?

Ulla brings decades of expertise in transforming organizational cultures through collaboration, innovation, and measurable results. With a career spanning global leadership roles and a proven ability to operationalize visionary ideas, Ulla embodies the balance of strategic insight and people-centered action that drives enduring success.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJzrEVY8yg.png)




