Context and goal

In August 2009 and in the context of a newly launched strategy development process, the CEO of UNICEF Germany and her top management team of six heads of business divisions and functions gathered for a two-day management retreat to draft a more efficient organizational structure to deliver on the organization's mission. Having joined the organization only in January 2009 and with a substantial business background, the CEO invited her team to explore critically and open-mindedly potential areas for improving organizational structure and the linkages between the divisions in an open and critical way. Within the overall goal of developing a blueprint for a revised organizational structure (“to be”), the purpose of using embodied metaphors was to develop a joint view of the current organizational structure, in the context of what was seen as its complexity and amount of high-maintenance cross-divisional organizational interfaces.

Embodied metaphors

At the center of the model, and being the highest structure on the table, stands a tower with a blue winner's trophy on a palm tree – representing the two main goals of the organization, namely to grow economically, i.e. funds raised – represented by the large blue trophy brick on top of the model, as well as to enhance UNICEF's efficacy in educating donors and the public on child rights issues – represented by the palm tree.