The Cairn of Intersections:

I find intersections of five the most powerful – they force me to consider more factors than I normally would and not so many that the complexity overwhelms me. You can start by naming the lanes coming into the center, and the center emerges, or the reverse. For Organizations as Organisms I asked, What do all organizations have in common that they can’t do without? I found that they all need Leaders, Managers, Teams, a Change Process, and a structure for Thinking Collectively. One early intersection that I created is based on the Emotional Intelligence work of Daniel Goldman and the HayGroup.

This Cairn works when you:

• Want to cross-pollinate your thinking by introducing ideas from other disciplines

• Have a cross-functional group that needs to think together collaboratively

• Want to understand the impact of your plans, actions, or ideas on other groups or teams