In the current business and economic climate the role of organisational development has never been more important. To survive (let alone grow) organisations of all sizes need to 'up their game' - not stand still. When describing CPD I often use the analogy of attempting to walk up a down escalator - OD and running a business is much like that - stop developing and investing and you stop walking - and in the context of the environment in which you operate you start to go back-wards. A High Performance Culture is something many organisations strive to achieve. Many have achieved it in their own unique and distinctive ways. However, certain fundamental common factors need to exist without which a "High Performance Culture" will not be created. In difficult economic time this can be difficult to justify - however now is the time to prepare the organisation for the future. Organisational development strategies take time to formulate, develop and deploy - and that is before the returns start to generate. Wait for the "good times" and your competitors will beat you. Start now and the culture will be in place ready for the next shift in the economy. Whatever the case - being a high performance organisation is just as important in difficult times as it is good time - many would argue it is more important. The principles or 'flows' are: Purpose- A shared purpose is the necessary focus for the performance of any task or activity in a high performing culture. Learning - individual, collective and organisational. Such organisations understand change and its impact and quickly work out what needs to be done and what capabilities they need to survive and succeed. Opportunity - recognising, seeking, creating and taking opportunities to change and improve capability, effectiveness, efficiency and performance. Worth- understanding the value and worth of the work being done, the people who are doing it and the outcomes being delivered - and communicating it widely to all interested parties. Support- from management and colleagues in the shape of resources, information, encouragement etc. so everyone feels able to the best job they possibly can. Some practitioners add: Engagement, Energy or Empowerment and Relationships Engagement- the enthusiasm, drive and oomph that individuals deliver which is above and beyond - discretionary effort Relationships- there is nothing more powerful than a team who respect, trust, recognise each others strengths, complement those, challenge and stretch each other. Changing Purpose to Focus provides us with a more memorable mnemonic(s): This creates the FLOWERS model to high performance cultures or as I prefer to call it the High performance Culture REFLOWS© model: Relationships Engagement Focus Learning Opportunity Worth Support Note - check out Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi work on FLOW