An organizing device is an anchor.

It could be a specific source of inspiration for any kind of creative work or business project. If you are practicing architecture, it could be a key landscape feature such as a geologic formation, an important tree, or view that may inform how your building may be arranged. In daily life, it may be your morning run or time alone to meditate.

The organizing device is important because it influences the organizational pattern that will unfold over a project site or in time. It serves as a place of origin that a leader can point to as part of the story they may be telling to clients, investors, or even themselves. Within an organization, a set of values will drive how people work, interact, and grow as a team.

Can you work without an organizing device? Of course. However, the benefit is that it helps bridge the gap between a mental concept and reality. It helps people make sense of what they can’t see.