8. organizational alignment.

today at work, i had a three hour meeting with senior designers at my company. we are trying to figure out how to go about producing a global campaign that can span web, print, and corporate identity while supporting our new sales platform.

we took a large sheet of butcher paper, and printed out everything we have ever produced- starting in 2001. we placed all the assets printouts in order, chronologically, ending with explorations and assets that have not yet gone live. it was interesting to our how our brand has evolved over time, and how it has been influenced by outside design firms from other countries, and design consultations we have observed.

organizational alignment has a lot to do with branding, and customer experience. the customer should be able to quickly identify your brand, and what your company does within five seconds. this proves for a successful design and brand strategy to separate your organization from competitors.

7: leadership

I've found that in my experience, I work better in an environment where I feel my opinion is valued by leaders. It seems like a simple concept, but sometimes in the corporate world, it just isn't.

Starting early in the corporate world (or, what I consider early, at 20, I'm now 22) I always felt my opinion was taken with a grain of salt. I don't have anywhere near as much experience and expertise in the field as some of my more senior peers, but I do feel I have a youthful, collaboration savvy worldview to bring to the table, that most others won't have. I attend school in the heart of the Silicon Valley, which truly brings with it the cutting edge technology and different experience of growing up in this area, and in this technologically advanced environment.

It isn't just work-related. This is also true about personal matters. I often receive comments about living at home with your parents. Yet, I'm in the same, terrifying economic situation as everyone else supporting themselves. I'm lucky that I don't have children yet, but I am also unlucky to be the age I am and not be worth a sufficient amount of money yet. I can only hope that with aged appearance, I am perceived differently.

6: democracy and dialogue

Eisenberg suggests that mindful dialogue is a central component in effective organizational communication practices. At its core, the word "democracy" refers to the people having the power to rule themselves, but is this essential definition always the case in terms of dialogic democracy and communication?

Dialogic democracy sounds like it may create a mashup of statements, where everyone can say everything they want that comes to mind. However, it does take an amount of discipline, to plan the point you are making as well as being mindful of the opinions and circumstances of others. 

For instance, my best friend of 15 years just lost her father the day before Christmas Eve 2008 to cancer. She worked for a city as an intern in public relations, and before his death, would go home in the evening to care for him, sometimes into the early hours of the morning. One morning at work, a woman starting crying at her desk because she was tired and stressed out about a deadline. How pleasant would it have been for my friend to only have to worry about her job. She told me she was trying not to be annoyed by it, but I'm sure, considering her circumstances, that was difficult. It made me think about what might be going on in other people's lives at home and outside the office, and never to assume anything about anyone based on their appearance. More often than not, it is incorrect.

5: living in a pervasive communication environment.

A pervasive communication environment gives us multiple access points to an integrated communication structure with text, audio, video, and voice capabilities (Coopman, 2006).

Our environment has become even more pervasive in the last three years since that was written. At work, I was lucky enough to test Cisco's latest communication technology, TelePresence. Like my father, I expect videoconferences to be hokey, fuzzy, unclear, and problematic. The limitations of previous technology do not enable smooth, clear, communication over the airwaves. However, I was extremely impressed by my company's engineering of this product. I set up a meeting with my parents and I in San Jose, and my brother Don in Los Angeles. Each TelePresence suite is designed exactly the same, so that every participant feels like they are in the same room. The table across the screen looks as if it is part of yours. Microphones are placed throughout the room, so that when one sound occurs, the closest camera automatically picks it up, and records whoever or whatever was making that noise. The audio is crystal clear, and the HD video is life-like. People are portrayed life-size, so it really feels like you're in a face-to-face meeting. The video conference is literally a button push away when you walk into the room, as everything is prescheduled in the system. No looking up phone numbers for other suites, and no bringing pieces of paper with meeting codes.

Working for a company whose philosophy is clearly "Meet with anyone, anywhere, anytime," has been very interesting for me, as I am privileged enough to see each brand new product that releases to enhance global communication. These life-changing innovations also seem to do well even in times of dire economic strain, as people would rather purchase a great quality online meeting rather than purchase a long flight or fuel overseas.

chapter 4: the systems perspective on organization and communication

i was intrigued by the general concept of Karl Weick's sense-making model. this concept, according to Eisenberg, has greatly influenced the fields of organizational behavior and communication. he connects his sense-making model to the systems theory of organization, which essentially compares the organization to a living organism. Weick's most interesting theory, was that a person's perception is highly selective in that it's dependent on their interests, motives, background, and behavior. this is somewhat amusing to me, that we, as humans, need someone to propose a theory that we make decisions based on our own motives. are we that naive, that we don't realize why we make the decisions we do? whatever the case, ultimately, being mindful and aware of this concept will at least make you a better communicator. it teaches you to value not only your own motives, but deciding what the motives are of the person on the other side of a conversation.

3: three early perspectives on organization and communication.

theories are partial. theories are partisan.

both statements made by Eisenberg are certainly true, even more so considering the media's influence of public opinion in politics. Eisenberg compares this to history books, whose historic accounts can interpret information to change who is victimized by past errors inside the federal government. I compare it to the changes I see when I change the television station to watch the news. If I'm watching Fox, there is more coverage of Republicans and their side of the story (I also see shows like The Simpsons poking fun at their own network). If I'm watching NBC, the coverage is closer to impartial, possibly leaning toward Democrat sympathy.

The network news is impartial because, its theories are partisan. The network tells the story that will bring the most benefit. If the network receives funding from the Republican party, they will interpret and communicate the news as it would benefit the Republicans, in hopes for extra money. The news can be interpreted in several different ways, and it surely would not be reported the same by a truly impartial source.

2: communication and changing the world of work.

i felt i could really relate to the passage "questions, not answers," in chapter one of eigenberg's "organizational communication." i think this is also because i've grown up in silicon valley, and witnessed my father as vice president of marketing jump from competitor to competitor in the semiconductor industry. i felt such promise would come with a college degree, but as i found, it is no guarantee for stability.

like my father, i became interested in marketing at a young age. i was constantly doodling logos, and drawing still lifes when i should have been doing my math homework. when i was five, i could recognize the brand of any car on the road instantly, and always felt interested in finding out who is responsible for that kind of artwork.

i wanted to be an artist when i started college, but i also felt the need to find a financially stable job to support my personal life goals. i chose graphic design as my profession, and somehow got lucky enough to land a graphic designer position on an internal marketing team at cisco systems, inc, one of the top 20 most valuable brands in the world. however, i soon found i was really working for webex communications, inc, a recent acquisition of cisco. i was involved in the rebranding of webex as a product family of cisco, and i feel honored and lucky to have been a part of the team for my first job.

however, i found this also created turmoil as well. i expected not to have to worry about whether i have a job or not. i expected to just be constrained by a visual design manager, who would judge if your design fits the brand. i didn't expect to have my job threatened by an acquisition, and i didn't expect the country to fall into a severe economic slump. i didn't expect to worry about whether our acquisition, which was quite promising, would be cast off due to budget cuts. it certainly has been a life lesson so far, and in a way it has taught me to expect the unexpected.