Case studies

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Peter Drucker

To date, Project Nomad has supported more than 30 DAF organizations with human-centered analysis and cultural strategy initiatives. Project Nomad can’t take credit for the hard work of the people in these organizations, but we can say we were there when the magic started.

“Your Best Life Better“

When the new commander of a major force supporter at an air base arrived, she had a lot of work cut out for her. Her 900-person squadron lacked purpose and a shared vision. With Project Nomad’s help, the squadron leaders created a strategy to improve their service and culture. A year later, everyone on the base could see the change. The squadron’s logo and its motto were everywhere. Their facilities were so improved that they were almost unrecognizable. More importantly, everyone in the squadron knew the direction the squadron was going, felt a sense of worth, and understood their role in the bigger plan.

“To Keep the Morning Calm”

By listening to what people inside and outside said about his 200-person unit, the operations superintendent of an intelligence squadron recognized the culture of his squadron was not what it needed to be to accomplish the unit’s very important mission. He approached his commander about the issue, and they sought Project Nomad’s assistance. As a result of Project Nomad’s Culture Mapping, the squadron conducted a deliberate design of its organizational culture management approach. Within six months the squadron saw massive improvements in camaraderie and mission focus, getting over eighty percent participation on a Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Survey that revealed a ninety-four percent rating in Unit Cohesiveness. The leadership of the squadron then asked Project Nomad to help again, and the second Culture Mapping revealed the elimination or significant reduction in more than half the factors that were negatively impacting the unit. Moreover, the Culture Mapping uncovered new focus areas for the unit that were masked because of the original detracting factors. After a year of focused organizational culture management, the squadron won two group-level annual unit awards.