Corporate Kool-Aid - PR and Marketing specifically geared towards imprinting the corporate culture and brand as a positive mindset and way of life.

In the most successful cases, this is done in such a way that the individual who has "drunk the corporate kool-aid" will, outside of work and uncompensated, serve as a willing and engaged corporate spokesperson, advocating and promoting the corporation's stated views and agenda as a True Believer.

Two Simple Supercharging Recipes

When the people who work for an organization, within a work group, or on a project team commit themselves in enthusiastic harmony to achieve measurably excellent results, we often say of them "Wow! They really drank the Kool-Aid!"

It isn't the actual soft drink we're talking about, of course. Since it's first (terrible) use as such in 1978, "drinking the Kool-Aid," in the corporate sense, has evolved into a broad metaphor for that magical moment when people become energized by and engaged in their work, aligned with the goals they share, and hungry to claim the bragging rights that come with a scorecard full of real, tangible accomplishments.

Engagement, alignment, execution - using two simple recipes, you can custom-mix your own unique batch of "Corporate Kool-Aid" from these four basic flavors:

 

Recipe 1: What's Your Personal Brand Kool-Aid Flavor?

People who feel they just can't know enough about something, who gather and relish the tiniest details to master a particular body of knowledge, who pride themselves in crossing the t's and dotting the i's and getting everything exactly right... they tend to favor the Cool Blue "Smart Expert" brand flavor of Corporate Kool-Aid.

People who like to get to the point, who enjoy formulating a clear vision of what "done" will look like and then get to work scheduling, tracking, and driving it into existence... these folks prefer the sharp Red "Take Charge" Kool-Aid brand flavor.

People who enjoy rallying the troops, imaginative people who take pride in preparing and presenting innovative ideas in exciting, motivating ways... these people prefer the energizing Yellow "Exciting Party"  brand flavor.

People who seek consensus, foster harmonious professional relationships and communities, value fairness, respect tradition, honor and follow the rules... these people prefer the smooth Green "Trusty Partner" brand flavor.

So, what's your personal Kool-Aid brand flavor?

From the point of view of your workplace role or job, read the following descriptions and rank each from 1 to 4, where you feel you most identify with your #1 choice and least identify with your #4 choice.

Fill in your personal Kool-Aid brand flavor recipe card with two scoops of your #1 choice plus one scoop of your #2 choice: 

Recipe 2: Your Company's Brand Kool-Aid Flavor

Organizations are people, too. Successfully aligned groups, from the smallest teams to entire companies, define themselves by exhibiting a collective style of behavior that clearly expresses their shared values, beliefs, and sense of mission.

Take a moment to study this table of 16 example organizations.

Starting with the four representative organizations in the upper left (Blue) quadrant of the table, MIT (1), Google (2), the Global Governance Institute (5), and Bloomberg TV (6), all share a general mission of research and knowledge, but each approaches it in a unique way:

• MIT is purely about research and education (straight Blue).
• Google is about applying knowledge to help its subscribers get things done (Blue, with a dash of Red).
• The Global Governance Institute is about research with the goal of building a peaceful, orderly, harmonious world community (Blue, with a hint of Green).
• Bloomberg Television is about gathering and disseminating research and knowledge in order to attract and engage an audience (Blue, with a smidgen of Yellow).

Take a look at the example organizations (3, 4, 7, and 8) in the upper right (Red) quadrant:

• The US Army is all about the results (pure Red).
• Lockheed Martin is about getting things done by using applied research (Red, plus a little Blue).
• Accenture helps their clients get things done by assembling focused teams to carry out successful business improvement projects (Red, with a dash of Green).
• GE is about addressing customer problems, too, by applying their unique array of innovative technology solutions (Red, with a touch of Yellow).

Consider the example organizations (11, 12, 15, and 16) in the lower right (Yellow) quadrant.

• The Six Flags Amusement Park chain sells engaging, entertaining experiences (totally Yellow).
• Likewise, the NBC broadcast TV network is about fun, but by distributing entertaining and informative content (Yellow, with some Blue)
• As an ad agency, BBDO is about creating engaging experiences aimed at earning their clients a larger share of some particular market (Yellow plus some Red)
• Coca-Cola sells soft drink flavors as lifestyle experiences that their customers identify with and gather around (Yellow with some Green).

Finally, think about the example organizations (9, 10, 13, and 14) in the lower left (Green) quadrant.

• The various health care facilities operated by Virtua take good care of people in need (straight Green).
• Utilities like Con Edison take care of people as well, but by supplying them with reliable and dependable metered services (Green, plus a little Blue).
• People who buy Apple products feel like they're part of a special community (Green...) that empowers them and makes them better (...plus some Red).
• On-line retailer Amazon sells and reliably delivers a wide variety of hard and soft products (Green...) by engaging their customers in "the Amazon buying experience" (...plus a measure of Yellow).

So, what's your company's brand Kool-Aid flavor? From these 16 examples, select one and only one company that you believe most closely represents the "brand" of your company.

Having trouble? Can't decide between two, or maybe even from among three or more?

That's a problem. The leaders of successful companies all agree on the particular Kool-Aid brand flavor of the organizations they run, and they do such a great job communicating this aligned brand promise that, in exercises like this one, 85%+ of the people who work within, buy from, or are served by those organizations pick the same or an immediately adjacent (very similar) company.

So, leaders: take your time, think deeply and carefully about this, talk it over and come to a consensus. Once you, your partners, your Board, and your executive team completely agree on your organization's one specific brand of Corporate Kool Aid, mix and drink a big batch by selecting your recipe from this table:

Congratulations. That's the recipe for your organization's one and only Kool Aid Brand flavor. Make a habit of drinking it, your brand will come through in your words and deeds, and, before long, your customers and the people who work for you will develop a taste for it, too.

Your Corporate Kool-Aid Diet Plan

Assume a virtue if you have it not.
         - Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III Scene 4

From now on, you'll be using your two recipes, your personal and company Kool-Aid flavors, to brew two big pitchers. Here's how I make mine:

I'm the kind of guy who seeks attention, loves to jump to the front of a room and draw engaging pictures that attract attention and communicate interesting ideas, but with the ultimate goal of getting everyone on the same page and working together toward some goal.

That's mostly Yellow with some Red, so I use two scoops of Yellow and one scoop of Red to mix my personal brand pitcher of Kool-Aid.

Working with my partners, I help deliver a service that applies the findings of behavioral research (Blue) to align and engage teams of people in a specialized process of informed self-discovery (...with some Yellow). So, closest to our example of Bloomberg TV, it takes two scoops of Blue and one scoop of Yellow to mix my company's Brand of Kool-Aid.

That's my Kool-Aid Diet. I build positive energy by drinking a full glass of my Personal Kool-Aid Brand early in the morning: that is, I start my day recognizing and celebrating my motivational Yellow and get-er-done Red strengths.

When I get to work, I drink a full glass of my Company Kool-Aid Brand: that is, I tone down my instincts to overtly influence (Yellow) and directly supervise (Red) my clients as I dial up my respect for the knowledge base foundation of my work (a healthy dose of Blue...) and reinforce my faith that, properly organized and carefully presented, this information will lead my clients to a positive and transformative conclusion (...plus a little Yellow).

My partners and colleagues are drinking the same stuff and willingly making similar adaptations. So, as I work with them during the business day, I'm effectively helping myself to a couple more reinforcing big doses of the Company Kool-Aid, and this Kool-Aid effect is doubled when, as a result, we rack up a shared success.

We just love it when our customers - and especially our competitors - say: "Wow! They really drank the Kool-Aid." 

_____________________________

Al presents the Corporate Kool-Aid Cookbook (in one-hour interactive lecture and three-hour workshop formats) for various organizations, including Vistage International. If you're interested in scheduling a presentation for your company or organization, contact him at al.cini@teamperformanceworkout.com.

Elaborating on these simple "Kool-Aid" principals in his role as Facilitator at Onward Education and Training, Al combines accepted behavioral science with uniquely effective coaching and improvement techniques to deliver the Team Performance Workout program, which engages and aligns groups or teams and shifts their focus from merely "doing things" to actually getting things done.