The compass represents a table of data, measuring each data point against the others in terms of its quality and strength. The representation is a sort of coded picture, and so, it can be used for communication. We interpret the arrow to tell us that our institution overall shows this general quality. We might be pleased, satisfied or alarmed by the final outcome. Because of the colours, the coded picture elicits emotions in its own right. Provided we select the colours well, we convey the message we want at an intuitive level. In the compasses we have a lighter area towards the centre, and the outer areas have a more intense colour. This is to emphasise the concept of the length of the arrow. A short arrow is balanced between the qualities, or is neutral between the qualities. Because of the strict geometry the compass also creates a sense of distance. We can look at it as a piece of information about the whole. We are then called upon to react to the position of the arrow, but also to reflect upon our own emotional reaction, especially when we are surprised by the position or length of the final arrow.

In this way, all representations are a type of distorting mirror. They reflect, but they also draw out some aspects of what they represent, and hide others. The data table is obliterated. We are not lost in the details, and not struck by particular details. This is an advantage since it also removes us from the latest data we were exposed to regarding the institution or some other concern that has recently captured our attention. The remove, affords us a holistically objective perspective. This has the advantage of preventing us from reacting to particulars. Instead, we are in a position to strategize and look ahead with a clear view of the whole. Similarly, with the democratic aspect of the compass construction, this affords us some distance from our particular perspective. Each actor in an institution, and each person affected by an institution sees different things. This is because we each have a different background of experience and knowledge.

We can also play with the representation. If, instead of three distinct colours, we bleed colours into each other we have something closer to Fig. 9.1.

Fig. 9.1
figure 1

A more colour-sensitive compass

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We can also erase the lines between the thirds, and remove the names for the thirds. We then have something that looks like Fig. 9.2.

Fig. 9.2
figure 2

An intuitive compass for people who are not colour-blind

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Since we are using our intuitive reaction to colours, we can now think about how it is that the compass reading affects us: that the arrow sits in this colour and how it is that the neighbouring colours affect us. Colours have a psychological and a cultural dimension. Different cultures will associate slightly different colours with the three general qualities. To find out the culturally influenced reaction we have to do a little anthropology. This is important when constructing compasses in cultures other than our own if we want to communicate with the culture using the compass. We also want to be aware of general associations. Green, for Europeans tends to suggest ecological values. However, in the USA, green might still be associated with money, since all of the dollar notes are printed in a green colour. In Spain and Portugal, the bullfighters sometimes wear pink jackets, breeches or socks, whereas in Anglo-Saxon countries, pink is associated with girls and weakness.

The same applies to the words we use for the general qualities. When using the compass to communicate with people in a language other than English, the translation of: harmony, discipline and excitement should be carefully considered. It would be interesting, too, to consider a different trio of general qualities that come from other ancient traditions.Footnote 1

Having done our homework to culturally sensitively choose the colours and words for our compasses, the idea of bleeding the colours into each other adds the suggestion that the arrow can swing and change direction in analogue fashion, and in both directions, as opposed to jumping over the barrier that constitutes the line between the sectors. It is also more suggestive of the nuance of degree. This is equivalent to the exercise mentioned in Sect. 5.4.2 of considering a whole suite of adjectives, adding them to the three, and placing them at degrees around the circle.

Next consider that an arrow pointing upwards suggests progress, strength and virility, whereas pointing downward suggests something negative. Remember the meta-attitudes towards the qualities, and remember that we have an ideology. We can rotate the colour circle so that our preferred colour is at the top, where ‘preferred’ corresponds to the wish compass we constructed, and therefore, our meta-attitude towards the qualities. We locate the wish spot in the top third of the circle. See Sect. 9.1 and Chap. 11 for examples. Careful use of colours can replace words in the compass.

1 The Compass as a Labelling Device for Products

This is an easy introduction to the concept of institutional compass for people who are not experts in decision aides, and who rely on the market for food, material goods and services. To introduce the concept of an institutional compass, one can point out that we are given information about a product as a matter of course. There is a price, sometimes the country of origin, sometimes the ingredients, the brand etc.… We can then include a compass as a piece of information. Products are sold on the market with ideological orientations underlying them, and the preference in the orientation can be expressed in colour terms.

Consider toys. Some toys are meant to be calming and instructive, they belong to harmony. Others are all about power and destruction, they belong to discipline. Others are challenging, glamourous and exciting. They belong to excitement.

Having explored these ideas, we can then do the following exercise. We develop a circle with the colours arranged in a culturally suggestive way with our preferred quality-colour on top. We don’t even need the arrow. We then develop a table of data for each product and construct a compass. The final reading with the preferred colour on top is used in the labelling of the product. It makes a very subtle suggestion to the purchaser. The colours replace words.

What is the point of the exercise? There are three points. One is to give a purely intuitive and suggestive indication to the purchaser of the general quality emphasised by the product (and how successful it is – indicated by the colour position). The other is to elicit enquiry. If the purchaser is curious about the logo, he, or she, can consult a sample flyer or web page to find out more. If he, or she, wants to enquire into the details underlying the compass, there is a file with the data table that the purchaser can consult. The curiosity can become a reason for participation. If the purchaser or producer disagrees with points on the data table, then his, or her, input can be taken into account on the data table, and the final compass reading ever so slightly shifted.

The third point of the exercise is to help the producer. Help comes in three ways. On a competitive or co-operative market, producers compete against each other or want to co-ordinate their efforts. One benefit comes if, for example, one producer notices that there are a lot of products that share the same compass reading, then maybe this is a hint to work on making one that occupies a less usual place – a niche market. Another benefit is to give the producer the opportunity to learn more about the alternative products, by also consulting the data sheets and improving his, or her, product. Of course, some producers might want to hide the data sheet for reasons of keeping secrets from competitors, but we display what we legally may, and indicate that some data points are missing. The point for the producers is to improve the product in the sense of making it stronger in the desired quality, or closer to a wish spot. But there is third possibility. The producer might point out that there is something important missing from the data sheet. We can add it in, and the compass reading shifts with the added information. This is a means of recognising the efforts made by producers, and acknowledging their creativity or innovative approach that is unique to them. For example, if the toys are made by an under-privileged minority, or they come from a family business, or some percentage of the earnings go to a charity, this can be included. The information is fed into the compass construction, and so the producer can communicate with a visual impression of the whole product.

The product label use of the compass is not important for institutional decision making, but it is an immediate way of communicating the compass concept to “lay” people – those who are not experts in decision making. It also shows us how basic and immediate the representation is.