We use build personas to understand and empathize with customers but do we have one to understand our own organization? Can we easily identify what is the personality of our organization? As Sinek says, we know what we do and how we do it but do we know why? Without vision, without why, you seldom provide a unifying theme of purpose. All of your objectives, all the measures, all the targets, etc. become disjointed. In a Business901 Podcast, Ari Weinzweig, CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, MI said, “Vision comes from the heart”. The vision, the why should dictate how we act and the personality of our organization? Does it? How would your customer complete this?

1. What
(What you do)
How
(How you do What)
What does your organization
See
(environment, friends, what the market offers)
What does your organization
Hear
(friends, boss, influencers)
What does your organization
Think and Feel
(what counts, preoccupations, worries, aspirations )
What does your organization
Say and do
(attitude, appearance, behavior)
Adapted from xplane.com Empathy Map and the book..Start with WhyOrganizational Persona
Why (Why you do what you do)
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