What is your organization's origin story?
The Challenge
Find someone who has been a part of the organization you work for since the beginning (or at least for a very long time) and ask them to tell you about how it got started, and what the original intention was that lead to its creation.
Why do this?
Know the history of the place you work. Making the effort to acquire a good background knowledge of this subject will, at minimum, be interesting, and may even be enlightening. Knowing the history of any group gives you a solid foundation for understanding its direction, goals, people, successes, and failures.
Your perspective on your current work may be altered by what you learn. For example, the initial goals of the organization may have been entirely different from the current ones. Any knowledge you gain can be used in your daily work, and in dealing with both internal and external politics.
What’s next?
Identify someone else who has worked for the entity for a long time, and make an appointment to talk with them about its history. They may also be aware of written sources for this information. And, of course, check the company website for additional sources.
