At Autisme Center Vestsjælland (ACV) I experienced the transformation in the group of the 35 leaders at a workshop, which purpose was to make ACV more authentic - a workshop where the outcome was very much an eye opener for the participating leaders. As one of the participants pointed out:

”In the past two years where I have been an employee at Autisme Center Vestsjælland, this is the leader meeting where I have got the very best sense of my colleagues.”

The purpose of the workshop served not only as a strategic tool to help the leaders in finding the organizations authentic identity, it also had a side effect: The employees got a better understanding of each other.

Autisme Center Vestsjælland

As a public organization, ACV works to give children and adults with autism the best offer on the market, and works to create good lives for residents and students, as well as providing security for parents and relatives to the users. But a big company in expansion with a flat management structure also faces some challenges when it comes to finding strengths, potentials and future basis for growth. The purpose of the workshop was to assist the 35 leaders of ACV in finding authentic strengths in the organization and to define the organizational authentic identity. To be authentic, you must be true to yourself both as an individual and as an organization. Of course, that is easier said than done.

When the waves went high

After a good one hour presentation from Nikolaj Stagis the following workshop led towards smaller group discussions. The room was full of good energy, and I very much felt a great deal of motivation among the leaders to get to the bottom of challenges within the organization by discussing the three dimensions of the authenticity – evidently finding a common ground. Briefly, the three dimensions are: The historical (an organization’s heritage, historical characteristics and original purpose), the reflexive (an organization’s opinions, vision and actions), and the expressive (an organization’s communication, expression, proximity and passion).

Overall, the outcome of the workshop was an eye opener for the participating leaders whose vision of the organization changed during the workshop. ACV left the workshop with a strong sense and idea about in which direction the organization should evolve.

As one leader pointed out:

“The workshop has given me a great insight into where each of us stands, and I am definitely looking forward to continue working with the tools that you (Nikolaj) have given us.”

It all started with a book - The authentic company

ACV’s motivation and need for a workshop about the authentic company stems from many years of organizational changes and expansion. A need for the right set of tools to identify the strengths and potentials within the organization became evident for ACV, and the book The authentic company was discovered by one of ACV’s leaders at a presentation in 2012. “Lederne” held a country wide round of presentations focusing on leader’s ability to be authentic, and the leader from ACV became very motivated by the presentation and ended up buying the book The authentic company - and her excitement spread to the rest of the leaders at ACV, where an additional 50 copies of the book were ordered.

ACV has planned a six-month strategy process with workshops and meetings based on The authentic company and Stagis’ methods. And with ACV’s strong history and articulated visions and actions for the future, we are excited to witness how ACV will flourish and evolve to become an authentic company.

Authenticity, that has something to do with spelt bread, organic food and vintage furniture. Has it not? In a recent piece in the New Statesman Steven Poole asks: Why are we so obsessed with the pursuit of authenticity? At Stagis we find such questions exhilarating since we advice organization on how to adapt and thrive in a society driven by the pursuit of authenticity. But I believe recent debates on authenticity have been quite myopic, and in particular Mr. Poole has a narrow understanding of the concept of authenticity.

Often enough, debates by Steven Poole, Andrew Potter and others, on authenticity are about why and how modern consumers suddenly prefer organic foods to conventional ones. Or why people are suddenly flocking to buy responsible and environmentally friendly Starbucks coffee. Sure enough, Mr. Poole also tends to believe that authenticity has to do with certain shallow forms of consumer trends:

”Modern mass-media gluttony, or foodism, has its own cluster of presumed “authentic” virtues. The idea of “real” food is sometimes parsed, adorably, as food with no chemicals, though all food is made of chemicals.”

Now, ‘authentic’ consumer trends are all fine and interesting phenomena in their own right, but what I am arguing is that these consumers’ trends are only symptoms of an underlying movement into the ‘meaning-society’. Or what Charles Taylor has called ‘a culture of authenticity’:

“I mean the understanding of life [whereby] each one of us has his or her own way of realizing our humanity, and that it is important to find and live out one’s own, as against surrendering to conformity with a model imposed on us from the outside, by society, or the previous generation, or religious or political authority.”  

At Stagis we are exactly helping businesses navigate in the culture of authenticity, a meaning-society, which demands of companies that they develop authentic identities, or as Polonius says in Hamlet: “To thine own self be true”! Authenticity is thus about how persons and organizations finds their own inner strengths and turns them into a competitive advantage, in order not to surrender to market conformity or blind competition over price.  

In our perspective authenticity is not simply about storytelling and biodynamic goods, but about creating coherence between three distinct dimensions of identity: Heritage, Vision and Expression.

All persons and organizations have a history (heritage), beliefs and goals concerning the organization (vision) and the surroundings have an image of the organization (the expression), which together constitutes the identity. And only by developing all three dimensions can companies create a lasting authentic identity that consumers find meaningful.

Interestingly, there are many signs of authenticity one could point to, covered in great detail by Charles Taylors, but one surprising indirect clue is Googles Ngram viewer: As Steven Poole also notes, Google Ngram shows how the use of ’authenticity’ increases in English literature from 1920, which is also the year where the usage if ‘authenticity’ reaches its all time lowest.

Poole believes it “parallels the rise to ubiquity of digital creative technologies”, whereas I personally see the rising pursuit of authenticity from 1920 onwards as a response to the meaningless carnage of WWI. Likewise, in the marketplace blind price competition creates alienated customers who seek towards more meaningful companies with a coherent authentic identity and products, such as Noma or Lego. Thus, authenticity in a business perspective is about turning the organizations inner strengths into the future growth strategy of the company.

So authenticity might after all not be what you think it is….

Today, when I logged on to Facebook a lot of my girlfriends had posted testimonials regarding the International Woman’s Day. It’s a reminder to respect and appreciate woman and to ensure their equal rights. Statements like: Equal rights to all women and: We can do it! influenced the picture on Facebook.

Today, many people are celebrating the International Women’s Day – especially women all over the world. It started out as a demonstration in 1910 for women’s rights and it has changed the view on women in general in a lot of countries. But is it really necessary to celebrate this day, when women in the western world celebrate women’s rights in the year of 2013?

But I can’t help to wonder whether it’s still necessary to celebrate women’s rights today – at least in the western world. We already have equal rights, and you do not see many housewives taking care of husband and children while taking care of the home. In fact, many women today enter the labour marked, working their way into the executive suites. And young women, taking their first steps in their career, dominate the higher educations - at large, the young men are left behind.

So why even celebrate this day at all? Well, not all women have achieved the same results yet. And keep in mind that women in Denmark haven’t even been able to vote for a 100 years yet. There’re still a lot of things to fight for. Maybe not as much in the western countries as in other places, but the fundamental importance of the International Women’s Day is simply solidarity between women. That is what we celebrate and fight on for.

In my perspective, it’s therefore still important to mark the day, showing that not all women have obtained the same kind of rights as we have in the western world. But what do you think? Have the day lost it’s political flavor and simply become a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, or is it still a fight worth fighting?

As a public information of interest, I can inform you, that the idea of an International Women’s Day was stated by Clara Zetkin at a congress held at ‘Jagtvej 69’ – yes, the well known place for many inhabitants of Copenhagen also known as ‘Ungdomshuset’             

Yesterday evening Nikolaj Stagis appeared as a guest in the TV-programme Deadline on DR2 for a debate on authenticity. Together with lifestyle expert Christine Feldthaus and anthropologist Karen Lisa Salamon he discussed the nature of authenticity in the context of lifestyle and consumption. A relevant context indeed, however the outcome of the discussion was left in a blur as the concept of authenticity was never really discussed on an informed basis. Nikolaj tried to set the stage by defining that being authentic means finding and using your inner strengths in everything you do. Nevertheless, the definition was quickly angled in a way that explained authenticity through baking spelt bread and celebrating an old-fashioned way of life. A bit of a shame, if you ask me. 

Personally, I would have preferred that the discussion had concentrated on why and how we can become authentic and the value this will lead to. A person might reach happiness, harmony, self-esteem or inner peace for instance. Things that are difficult to measure, but makes quite a difference in life. 

In terms of giving the debate substance beyond spelt bread Nikolaj pointed out that authenticity is all about passion and "who you are" - not necessearily nostalgia, romance and "doing things the old-fashioned way". There are many ways for a person to become authentic. Being an entrepreneur for instance is a way to self-realization and doing what you are passionate about. 

Although the theme of the debate was focused on the individual, authenticity has the potential to make a similar difference for companies. And while the gain of an authentic lifestyle for the individual is mainly found in intangible values such as happiness and harmony, the benefits for the authentic company can be measured financially. LEGO is an outstanding example on how mobilising inner strengths can cause a radical turn-around. After years of trying to expand their product portfolio – e.g. into the textile and game industry – business was beginning to struggle from these new ventures. Only when the company went back to focus on their inner strengths - LEGO bricks – things started to improve rapidly. 

That angle would have taken the debate to a whole new level. Well, in my opinion anyway. But what do you think? Is dedication to spelt bread, paleo diet and living in the countryside the same as being authentic, or does the concept entail a wider definition?

Watch the debate on Deadline

The magazine Hotel&Restauration has published an article on authenticity in the industry of hotels and restaurants. Nikolaj Stagis points out that even though authenticity can seem a bit abstract it is really just a matter of companies being good at defining who they are and what they are good at. He mentions the Danish restaurant Noma and the Hotel Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok as excellent examples of truly authentic companies within the industry. Read the article or watch a video with Nomas CEO Peter Kreiner, who gave a talk at the launch event for "The Authentic Company" in February 2012.

It is 2013, and thereby the 200th birthday of Kierkegaard the world famous Danish philosopher. But what could a 19th century philosopher, discussing the fear and trembling of old testament Abraham possibly say about leadership, authenticity and organization today?

In a sense Kierkegaard tries to understand the authentic leader, and likewise at Stagis we try to understand and advice authentic leaders creating an authentic business organization. Leaders of tomorrow cannot risk falling back into a managerial role of controlling employees and business according to fixed rules, by not understanding the drive towards authentic goods and services. Thus, Kierkegaard might after all have a thing or two, to say about leadership.

Kierkegaard had a desire for understanding passionate characters that takes risks to go beyond the ethical or the mainstream. In his key work Fear and Trembling (1843) Kierkegaard studies Abraham, the father who feels he has to sacrifice his first-born son on the command of god.  Abraham cannot explain to his wife or anybody else why he has to do this. What kind of god would demand to kill ones first-born child?

Likewise, the passionate entrepreneur taking radical steps to break with the mainstream of the market can also have difficulties explaining his project. When Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1976, he was about to change the competitive factors and eventually the entire paradigm of the market. But at the time no one really understood what was going on. And almost certainly not even Jobs himself.

“If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin. Even though the result may gladden the whole world, that cannot help the hero; for he knows the result only when the whole thing is over, and that is not how he became a hero, but by virtue of the fact that he began.” Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, 1843.

When Rene Redzepi created Noma as the first New Nordic Kitchen restaurant, he was ridiculed as an unsophisticated hick, trying to stir up media attention with the cook Claus Meyer. After all, why would anybody go back to use old nordic ingredients and recipes when you have French and Italian culinary traditions and rules?  At the outset, Rene Redzepi could not make his project intelligible to him or anybody else; he just felt it was right. Paradoxically, by both riskin his own identity and being absolutely true to it, Redzepi made himself an authentic culinary hero rising above the ethical.

Nonetheless, the authentic business entrepreneur is quite vulnerable. Going beyond the mainstream, or the ethical rules and judicial framework of a market, can be anxiety provoking. Having no existing norms or rules to rely on; creating an entirely new business model can feel like having 70.000 fathoms of water beneath oneself. So, how did Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or any other of the successful entrepreneurs who had never learned the jargon and rules of the business school, manage to create an authentic business organization out of nothing?

In Kierkegaard’s words, the authentic leader is making the move from the ethical onto the religious. Because the authentic leader is not building his organization around (ethical) business school rules, which are applicable to all corporations like a McKinsey consultant. Rather authenticity is about founding the organization on inner strengths and deliberate leadership actions to go beyond the mainstream.

Moreover, the authentic company, are also better crisis survivors as they are not competing by the same competitive factors of price and quantity as the mainstream market, but has become super premium brands. OKI Printing Solutions had difficulties differentiating their printers from the rest of the market in terms of price and quantity like speed of printing. Thus, Stagis helped OKI making a radical move above the ethical, to become sellers of OKI Identity, rather than printers. And importantly, this also resonated with  their history, as they introduces radical different printers to the market earlier in their company history.

Authentic companies are thus not only able to find a corporate identity with links to their history and actions, but can also express this when authentic leaders dare to challenge the ethical. At Stagis authentic leadership is thus not about putting the past to rest, because “...why bother remembering a past that cannot be made into a present?” ― Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, 1843

The state of Denmark shares its history with the oceans and waters that surround the country. Early settlers who came to what is now known as Denmark were attracted and overwhelmed by the abundance of fish that the vast coastlines of Denmark had to offer. Now, there are few fish left in the Danish oceans, and with modern times comes solid infrastructure that leaves the water ways desolated. The ease of transportation is encouraged by new bridges, which today connect main parts of Denmark. With the past decades and century of bridge building the ferry lines stand to lose their attractiveness - arguably, choosing a bridge to a ferry seems like the cheap and efficient alternative to old ferries. However, hidden values of ferrying have emerged and many people still choose the authenticity of a ferry to a bridge. The ferry has become a place where you can rest, catch a nap, spend time on the deck with travel companions etc, and today stands as a part of the experience economy. Now, the responsiveness to CSR demands has led Scandlines, a Danish ferry operator, to install electrical powered engines in their vessels, relieving the standard diesel engine whenever they can:

“The technique is known from hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius”, Søren Poulsgaard, CEO of Scandlines, explains.

But is Scandlines in jeopardy of losing their touch with its customers with its new addition to propulsion? You wouldn't think so, right? However, some (i.e. me!) would argue that the feel of going by ferry is inherently connected with factors such as the vibration from the ship’s engine, that special humming sound you can drift away and fall asleep to, the smell of diesel and oil when you walk on the deck, the steam (and pollution) from the big chimney’s that make up a huge part of what a ferry is all about. These factors all add to the experience of travelling by ferry, and it must be reckoned with if ferry lines are to stand a chance in a competing market.

In Stagis we often see the need for companies and organizations to redefine their identity and move away from being 100% focused on the historical aspects of the brand. Is this the case for Scandlines? Does the technical shift in propulsion create an opportunity for Scandlines to become the new green way of transportation of the modern age?   

It will be interesting to witness if consumers will applaud the transition and continue to use ferries countrywide. How will Scandlines keep their identity and image intact, while changing key factors, such as the propulsion system? And how will they come about the potential re-branding opportunity that inherently lies before them?

Sources for this blog post:

I have 87 apps on my Smartphone. Believe me, I counted them. For some this might seem like an abnormal amount, but I use them all. These apps give me instant and often very well structured access to news, weather, sports, search engines, social media networks, cloud-services, photo-apps, games and much more. I also have access to my email accounts. My phone is my digital tool of choice, and my computer is now mostly used for work related tasks, and not for random browsing online. 

This development in preference is trending not only with me. A 2012 report done by the market research agency Nielsen shows that the U.S. market (which is comparable to the European market) has experienced a huge growth in users connecting to the Internet through mobile devices. While the amount of unique users connected to the Internet with a PC is down 4 % compared to 2011, the amount of unique users connected via mobile web is up 82 % and connections made through mobile apps is up 85 % (Nielsen, 2012). This is evidence of a shift in user preferences and a result of a growing Smartphone and tablet market. Companies and organizations alike should therefore pay close attention to this trend turned tendency. 

Going mobile is going where your audience is. This is by no means a bold statement considering the market research mentioned above. Further research done by e.g. Mobile Marketing Association suggests that companies on average stands to gain an 85 % increase in consumer engagement as a result of adapting their website to mobile usage or creating an app. Additionally, the research claims that companies benefits from added consumer engagement seen as an increase in sales. 

The evidence is all pointing in the same direction. Companies must start, if they haven’t already, to adapt websites to mobile usage or even create apps to service their customers. I am a firm believer that all companies must surrender to at least adapting their website to mobile use. This is a question of usability. If your users have easy, well structured access to your site no matter the device used, they will stay longer and more often than not repeat their visit. Apps are on the other hand not an equally important channel of communication for all companies to utilize. Based on observation, an app should be created only by having identified a specific consumer demand for a key service, or as a branding campaign. An example of a service app is mobile banking. Here users are able to check accounts, transfer money on the go etc. In terms of campaigns, Nike has on of the most succesful mobile apps out there with Nike+. The app engages users to compete with each other on fitness achievements. Another succesful campaign is Coinoffers by McDonalds in Denmark, which gives users the opportunity to collect coins through QR codes and recorded sound bites, that can be exchange for free burgers at one of the company’s restaurants. Both campaigns embrace gamification as a tool of deliverance and both are designed to inspire play, fun and feelings of community when using them. Gamification is not right for every company considering services offered, but giving the users a sense of community and added brand value is. 

The point is that your consumers, the users of mobile sites and apps, are growing in numbers, and they are waiting for you to go mobile. Whether creating an app, adapting your site to be optimal for mobile use, or both, going mobile is a tool for companies to ensure future brand engagement.

On December 10th Nikolaj, Esben and I were in Kolding, presenting the vision for the town council. I was exited to learn if the town council of Kolding would pass the new vision, which Stagis has been working at over the last couple of months. You might already have read about it in earlier blog posts, if not, check them out:

-       A new vision for the city of Kolding part 2. A vision forum involving over 500 people from Kolding, working with three possible new visions.  

-       A new vision for the city of Kolding. Find out more about our vision seminary where almost 100 people were joined, selecting three out of four possible visions for the citizens to work with at the vision forum

After having discussed the vision, a unanimously town council of Kolding passed the new vision which is both bold and ambitious. Through the authentic strengths of the city of Kolding, the vision is going to ensure entrepreneurship and growth in the municipality. And there are already a number of ideas on how to make this possible. There are initiatives to create an award for entrepreneurship and a theme week on all schools in Kolding with focus on design and entrepreneurship. Also, Kolding is focusing at an annual design festival. Their goal is to become the World Design Capital in 2018. This year Helsinki became the World Design Capital.

Kolding also wishes to create a ‘Living Design Lab’, for experimenting with the development of society and new social forms, for the benefit of the municipality of Kolding and the rest of the world.

This is the new vision for Kolding:

“Together we design potentials for a better life through entrepreneurship, social development and education.

With a passion to explore and to use design, Kolding is known as the European design city abroad, and as a place where entrepreneurship, social development and education together form a proud municipality of growth.

Kolding serves as a model for entrepreneurship and the viable concerns of growth attracts investors. We develop knowledge starting from design. Kolding is an attractive place to live where many citizens become inventive entrepreneurs in the innovative companies of Kolding, and in social projects”.    

Take a look at some of the articles (in Danish) written about the new vision.

With the new vision, Kolding’s ambition is to become an inspiration for all municipalities in Denmark and an international beacon for the good life.

But our work in Kolding is not over yet. Right now I am working at an external communications strategy for the municipality of Kolding. This will help them achieve their goals and I am looking forward to seeing the strategy in action, making the municipality of Kolding known in Denmark as well as abroad.

Interested in finding out more? Stay tuned…

The municipality of Thisted in Denmark has a lot to offer, and the citizens are realizing the potential of hosting a World Cup for Windsurfers.

”While a number of municipalities in Denmark engages with expensive - and often ineffective - advertising, Thisted municipality and the other partners in the project are so lucky to have a resource in a bunch of dedicated surfing enthusiasts” - Nikolaj Stagis explains to the local newspaper Nordjyske.dk.

An intiative called Cold Hawaii is the organization behind the yearly World Cup for Windsurfers and as the name indicates, the wind is ideal and the temperature is…shall we say ”refreshing”?

The success was founded with "Cold Hawaii Masterplan" in 2006 and 2007, and has proven to be an invaluable investment for the parties involved in the project over the past year. The excellent results achieved in 2010 - 2012, suggest not only that the area's strengths has been defined and translated into relevant, distinct activities, culminating in Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup. They also suggest that here is a cluster of dedicated enthusiasts and partners who have managed to take the long haul. Both to serve their own dreams, but also to serve the area's image and growth. Too many branding and image campaigns are too vaguely based on the municipalities and organizations who aim to succeed. Often, the campaigns and projects get redefined, altered or simply forgotten, and the organizations are left with a wondering of why money was wasted and the effect did not materialize. 

In Thy it has worked out differently. The project to promote and market Thisted Municipality as "Cold Hawaii" exudes that there is a partnership between the municipality, community organizations and local enthusiasts who are passionate about surf sports, to nature and to attract a world championship in windsurfing. These are the enthusiasts who make the project heartfelt and authentic - and which enables the humble fishing village of Klitmøller to make an impact on a much larger scale than we are used to seeing. The trick, of course, is to realize the value in the development that has already taken place, and ensure that it continues and becomes even greater. The more the municipality grow their authentic identity, the greater synergies, credibility and garnering between all the parties involved.

Click on the links above and read more about the initiative that puts Thisted and Thy on the world map while creating a strong incentive for the whole municipality to take part and identify with the activities that surrounds the World Cup. Read Nikolaj Stagis' blog on the success of Thy here (in Danish!).

Need more information on how to discover and realize authenticity in your organization? Go to www.nikolajstagis.dk or read more about other cases here.