Author:  Laiza N. Otero, MSOD, Organization Development Consultant

Lately I’ve been thinking about how the clarity of the vision and the sense of team within an organization interact with each other. To help me sort and structure my thoughts I created the matrix below.  It is based on my personal and professional experiences within organizations, and not any formal research.  However, it is undoubtedly influenced by many great thinkers in organization development studies.  In particular, the work of John Kotter, William Bridges, and Patrick Lencioni.What are your experiences and/or thoughts regarding the organizational dynamics I present in the matrix?

Useful definitions:

• Organizational vision: refers to the stated reason for “why” an organization exists, its purpose or reason for being
• Team orientation:  the degree to which organizational members feel and act as a team

Additional thoughts I had about the four quadrants when writing them up:

• Q1) Clear vision + Low team orientationA network of people rather than a team.
• Q2) Clear vision + High team orientationSports teams would be a good example of the characteristics and behaviors I associate with this quadrant.
• Q3) Not Clear vision + Low team orientationTo be honest, this sounds like an organizational limbo to me where there is no sense of direction and it’s full of lost souls.
• Q4) Not Clear vision + High team orientationA place full of good intentions, no clear direction, and full of uncertainties.