Building Blocks for Organizational Health

The Mission & Vision Dimension: Mission & Vision articulate the organization’s core purpose and long-term direction. They give meaning and a shared sense of purpose, clarifying why the organization exists and what it seeks to contribute. A clear mission and vision create meaning, alignment, and coherence, helping people orient decisions and efforts toward a shared goal.

• KEY FOCUS: The main purpose of business is to develop profitable solutions to the problems of people and planet

• TOOLS: The Cognitive Thinking Process ◦ Storytelling

The Strategy Dimension: Strategy is the practice of discernment and wise choice. It translates purpose into focus by clarifying direction, priorities, boundaries, and the use of resources. Through strategy, the organization seeks to act with intention rather than impulse, aligning efforts with what truly matters.

• KEY INSIGHT: Prioritize 'healthy' (culture, clarity, relationships) above 'smart' (structure, numbers)

The People & Values Dimension: People & Values reflect a deep respect for human worth and responsibility. They shape the spirit of the organization: how people feel, treat one another, how trust is built, and how decisions are made. Shared values form the moral compass of the organization and cultivate commitment, care and integrity.

• KEY PRINCIPLE: A human-centered purpose

• KEY FOCUS AREAS. Existential health, Excellent teamwork, Coherence

• TOOLS: The Cognitive Problem-Solving Process ◦ Family-of-Origin Roles ◦ Healthy Conversations ◦ Team Review ◦ Sense of Coherence (SOC) ◦ Jakten på den hälsosamma organisationen®

The Servant Leadership Dimension: Leadership is an act of service that provides guidance, courage and steadiness. Leaders carry responsibility for the whole, setting direction while enabling others to grow and contribute. Through humble and trustworthy leadership, vision is connected to action and change with integrity.

• KEYWORDS: To shepherd, To equip, To love, To empower

The Board & Governance Dimension: Board & Governance serve as guardians of purpose and responsibility. They provide oversight, counsel, and accountability, ensuring that the organization acts with integrity and faithfulness to its mandate. Sound governance creates stability, wisdom, and trust over the long term.

• KEY INSIGHT: The healthy organizations starts in the board room

• TOOLS: Ethical Check-ins ◦ Healthy Conversations ◦ Team Review

The Operation & Finance Dimension: Operation & Finance express stewardship in practice. Through reliable structures, disciplined processes, and responsible financial management, the organization turns intention into daily action. This faithfulness in execution creates order, credibility, and endurance.

• KEY INSIGHT: Organizations must be designed so that people can act morally, not only efficiently

• KEY FOCUS AREAS: Systemic thinking, Innovation & learning, Review, Stewardship, Giving back

• TOOLS: Natural Growth Forces 🌱 ◦ Whole®

The Impact Management Dimension: Impact Management focuses on understanding and improving the results the organization creates. It shifts attention from activity alone to meaningful outcomes for people, communities and society. By measuring, reflecting, and learning, the organization strengthens effectiveness, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• KEY FOCUS: A stakeholder-oriented organizational logic = identification of all stakeholders, not only the profitable ones

The External Environment Dimension: The external environment encompasses the social, cultural, economic, and regulatory context in which the organization operates. Attentiveness to this environment enables relevance, adaptability, and informed strategic choices. By listening and responding wisely, the organization remains connected to real needs and changing conditions.

• KEY INSIGHT: Treat the external environment as a shared moral and social context, not merely a competitive landscape

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From a holistic, human-centered and ethically grounded perspective, the following questions are particularly important to consider as a set of recurring reference points against which the organization can regularly reflect on, test, and recalibrate its direction and practice over time:

Purpose and view of the human person

• What does the organization seem to believe about human beings?

• Are people primarily seen as resources and costs, or as persons?

• Is there a clear purpose beyond profit?

Organizational structure

• How are decisions made – centrally or distributed?

• Is there room for dialogue, trust, and responsibility?

• How are conflicts between economic goals and ethical values handled?

Ethics in practice

• What happens in times of crisis? (layoffs, cost-cutting measures)

• Do incentive and reward systems align with the organization’s stated values?

• What does it cost the organization to act ethically?

The Common Good

• Who benefits from the organization’s activities?

• Does it contribute to society, the environment, or the local community?