Designing Org  Culture
A Stanford d.school class, Winter 2024

What's this class about?

Climate change affects everyday life in big and consequential ways. A small town in California and Jordan suffers from drought in similar ways. Organizations such as purpose-driven startups could play a key role in responding to these challenges with their agility and focus on scalable solutions. They face many challenges beyond the core technologies required: demand-side policies and procurement laws, a lack of large, patient capital, and a need to equip passionate Cleantech entrepreneurs with the skills to scale their organizations. We know from other tech verticals that after promising startups receive funding, 55% will fail because of people-related issues. They face unique cultural challenges as they must simultaneously pursue social/environmental impact and financial success. Their passion and pace of growth are often not matched with the organizational acumen required to align their mission/values with their actions, retain talent, and manage diverse perspectives within the company. 

Students will tackle purpose-driven startup culture challenges and design culture experiments during the class by leveraging behavioral and experience design frameworks. This is a hands-on course where students follow the discovery, design, and delivery process and prototype culture policies, practices, and artifacts with their partner orgs. Students will learn key design abilities such as moving between abstract and concrete, experimenting rapidly, and communicating deliberately.