#1 Mollie West’s “How To Create a Culture Manifesto for Your Organization (And Why It’s a Good Idea)” article provides exemplars of organizations that effectively implemented culture manifestos. The article points out that organizational mission statements tend to concentrate on external goals as opposed to internal ways of working. It’s recommended that organizations consider forming a culture manifesto to assist with the internal business environment as well as attracting appropriate talent. Based on the persuasive tone of the article, I would say the target audience is employees, and upper management of an organization. The writer is confident and sincere while using emphasis appropriately. Examples of companies that have utilized successfully culture manifesto such as Method Products, Etsy, and Warby Parker are provided to demonstrate different approaches to the process. By providing different companies, it gives the readers an opportunity to possibly see their own organization within one of the examples thus increasing the chance of attempting culture manifestos. Furthermore, Ms. West provides a step-by-step methodology for businesses that might want to utilize this. This makes the process actionable for an organization since it is clearly described. I believe the combination of persuasion and inspirational (examples of successful organizations) are effective for the target audience.
#2 When we first were assigned the research project, I wanted to a topic that would benefit me both personally as well as in this class. The first unit that encompassed topics on hiring individuals with disabilities piqued my interest. While some disabilities are obvious, others are well hidden and only discoverable if the individual discloses them. This topic has been one of challenge to find research. I was particularly intrigued about individuals with visible disabilities being able to hide them due to working from home this past year. While not necessarily the focus of my project, it was an interesting twist.
I envision my research to take the form of memo to advise professionals as well as individuals about the advantages and disadvantages involved in disclosing invisible disabilities. The issues questions are: (1) what are advantages and disadvantages of disclosing invisible disabilities in the work environment? Pre and post-employment; (2) are there factors of influence resulting in a positive outcome of disclosure?
I think the readers would be likely to engage in text that presented data backed up with research. The expectation is that I would have sources cited to give an authoritative and persuasive tone to my memo. Anecdotal stories would be beneficial as well in this memo.
Edward,
I love your topic and am very interested and excited to see where it took you and what you found out! I am also thinking about creating a memo to share my research and am planning on adding stories that I found it my research. I think that by adding them it makes you as a writer a reliable source if you are able to find some to add. If not, citing sources is definitely another way to do so.
Hi Ed,
I really enjoyed reading your response for question 1. I think you did very well at analyzing as well as summarizing Mollie’s article. One part of your response that stood out to me in particular was when you said “Examples of companies that have utilized successfully culture manifesto such as Method Products, Etsy, and Warby Parker are provided to demonstrate different approaches to the process. By providing different companies, it gives the readers an opportunity to possibly see their own organization within one of the examples thus increasing the chance of attempting culture manifestos.” I didn’t think about it this way but now that you’ve brought it up, it definately makes sense because the reader will most likely think “this could be the future of my company”. I like your idea of using a memo to answer those questions. Im excited to see where you go with this.
Hi Edward,
I’m very intrigued by this topic as well which has some connections to the research I have been doing on artificial intelligence in HR (which may allow companies to discover these disabilities without disclosure). A common theme I’ve seen from our work this summer is that we all want to change the idea that differences are weaknesses into the idea that differences are strengths. I think your memo could help people see people with disabilities in a new way, especially in employment situations. One thing to consider is the risk that memos are easy to file away and forget after they are read one time. Is there a way for your memo to have a more lasting impact?
You’re right, Dylan, that memos sometimes get filed away and forgotten. Texts that include compelling graphics and/or relatable examples can have a longer lifespan (and a bigger impact), so I would encourage, Ed, you to think about how you can help this text pack a bigger emotional punch.
Ed–as you note in your response to #1, examples can be really powerful, transforming an abstract argument into one that is more immediately relatable and applicable to one’s own situation. I would encourage you to think about that as you’re crafting your own argument.