PRINCIPLES
A Principles turn organization's unwritten 'rules of the road' into easy-to-understand, everyone-uses-them guidelines for personal and corporate behavior. Governing principles empowers, rather than restricts, every choice our team members make. Their value is keeping everyone on the same page regarding how experiences are delivered, how promises are kept, and by providing ethical guidance to, well, everyone.
StoryMiners Principles have been developed since 2002. We stick by them--and count on them to get us through difficult decisions. They work. We mindfully consider the Principles (link to Principles page) we work by--just as we recommend our clients do. Having and relying on Principles makes it easier for everyone to be on the same page and it makes learning the business much easier for new team members.
Principles are broken into two categories:
WE WILL ALWAYS:
• Create value for you, your customers and your employees
• Be future-friendly
• Work smart & nimbly
• Be a team player (respectful and nice)
• Communicate authentically
• Bring mindfulness and joy
• Create an atmosphere that encourages innovation
• Strive to help you see your future more clearly
WE WILL NEVER:
• Betray your trust or confidentiality
• Try to sell you something you don’t need
• Stop mastering our craft
• Serve organizations that, by design, harm others
Principles always apply. Always. There are consequences for breaking them (because breaking Principles breaks the brand). Everyone in the organization is subject to the Reason for Being and to the Principles--even its leaders. In fact, that's what makes them work and that's what promotes a more agile-and-flat-at-the-same-time environment.
In conjunction with our Reason for Being Service, our Promise Map, our Story, and our own Experience Design, the Principles supply the guidelines our brand and our business needs to head into the future. Everything we do is within the bounds of our Principles. Every. Single. Thing.
To learn more about how Principles can help you and your business, please check out this post: Principles
“As IMC USA was approaching its 50th anniversary, I wanted to go beyond a standard survey and involve a large portion of members in a two-way conversation. The purpose was to identify the needs of our members and future members, and how to best serve them. I knew that I needed an objective, insightful professional to help do that. Having used Mike Wittenstein on several smaller projects in 2015, he was clearly the perfect choice to lead this more complicated effort. Mike did a tremendous job leading us through the Reason for Being process and identifying specific guiding principles for our next 50 years. We are now positioned to attract early professionals, as well as more senior professionals. Mike is a consultant’s consultant whose presentation inspired rave reviews by all participants at the Institute of Management Consultants Annual Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.”
Don Matheson, President at IMC