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One picture of how your whole company actually works. The Company Genome Map is the visual centerpiece of the DNA Framework.
It’s a one-page diagram that shows:
  • your core DNA,
  • your 12 strands,
  • their key sequences,
  • and the most important interactions between them.
This page explains what goes into the map, where visuals should appear, and how to read and use it.

​
The Whole Thing in One View

                         ┌─────────────────────┐
                         │      COMPANY DNA    │
                         │ "Core DNA Sentence" │
                         └─────────┬───────────┘
                                   │
                ┌──────────────────┴──────────────────┐
                │                                     │
        ┌───────▼───────┐                     ┌───────▼───────┐
        │   STRAND 1    │   ...               │   STRAND 12   │
        │   (Brand)     │                     │    (Team)     │
        └───┬─────┬─────┘                     └───┬─────┬─────┘
            │     │                                 │     │
            │     │                                 │     │
            │     │                                 │     │
            │     │                                 │     │
         ┌──▼──┐  │                              ┌──▼──┐  │
         │Seq A│  │                              │Seq Z│  │
         │(flow│  │                              │(flow│  │
         │of work)│                              │of work)│
         └──┬──┘  │                              └──┬──┘  │
            │     │                                 │     │
      ● Gene 1    ● Gene 2                    ● Gene 37   ● Gene 38
   (rule/behavior)(rule/behavior)         (rule/behavior)(rule/behavior)

​
2. Legend (What Each Symbol Means)

[ COMPANY DNA ]   = The core identity / “what must never break”.
[ STRAND ]        = One of the core systems (Brand, Product, Tech, Ops, etc.).
[ Seq X ]         = A Sequence: a repeatable workflow that crosses strands.
● Gene            = A Gene: a specific rule, constraint, or behavior.
│ and ─           = Structural links (who belongs to what).
→ or ▼            = Direction of influence / flow.

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3. Zooming In: Hierarchy as Symbols

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a) Top Level – DNA

[ COMPANY DNA ]
    "We ship fast and protect trust."
          │
          │  (everything below must be compatible with this sentence)
          ▼
The Core DNA sentence acts like gravity.
Every strand, sequence, and gene must align with it.

​
b) Strands – The 12 Core Systems

[Brand]   [Product]   [UI]   [UX]   [Tech]   [Data]
[Conv.]   [Ops]       [Sales][AI]   [Sec.]   [Team]
You can imagine them as a ring: 
              [Brand]     [Product]     [UI]

        [Team]                               [UX]

        [Sec.]                               [Tech]

              [AI]       [Data]       [Conv.]

                  [Ops]          [Sales]
Each [Strand]:
  • has its own rules (genes),
  • owns some parts of sequences (steps),
  • and is influenced by other strands.

​
c) Sequences – How Work Actually Flows

Example: “Ship a Feature” sequence: 
[Product] → [UX] → [UI] → [Tech] → [Ops] → [Conversation]
   │          │       │      │       │          │
   ●          ●       ●      ●       ●          ●
  Gene       Gene    Gene   Gene    Gene       Gene
("Define   ("Test   ("Use  ("Code  ("Deploy  ("Announce
 problem") prototype") design")  reviewed") safely")  feature")
Here:
  • The horizontal arrows show the workflow.
  • The ● genes under each step define how that step must be done so it’s aligned with your DNA.

​
d) Genes – The Atomic Rules

Inside each strand file you basically have: 
[Strand: Ops]

  ● Gene: "No release goes live without a 3-step checklist."
  ● Gene: "Every incident gets a postmortem within 48 hours."
  ● Gene: "All customer-impacting changes are logged."

These ● genes attach to sequences:

  [Tech] → [Ops] → [Conversation]
           │   │
           ●   ●
Genes are the smallest units of structure.
Change a gene → you change behavior → you change the strand → you change the whole DNA.

​
4. How Interactions Work (with Symbols)

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Inheritance (one strand influencing others)

[Brand]
   │  "We are radically transparent"
   │
   ├──────────→ [Conversation]
   │               ● Gene: "We never hide product limitations."
   │
   └──────────→ [Team]
                   ● Gene: "Leaders share context by default."
Brand inherits into Conversation and Team as concrete rules.

​
Conflict (when two strands pull opposite ways)

[Sales]          ↔          [Product]
 "Close big deals"     vs   "Avoid custom one-offs"

      ▲                             ▲
      │                             │
      └────── conflict hotspot ─────┘
Here you might mark a ⚠ conflict symbol in your map: 
[Sales] ⚠ [Product]

​
Constraint (one strand limiting another)

[Security] ──┬──|> constrains ───> [Product]
             │
             └──|> constrains ───> [Data]
Using |> or a lock 🔒 symbol: 
[Security 🔒] ──|> [Product]
               └─|> [Data]
This reminds you:
“Even if Product wants X, Security defines the safe boundary.”

​
5. The Structural Logic in One Formula

In symbols: 
DNA = ( Strands → Sequences → Genes ) × Alignment
Where:
  • Strands = [Brand] [Product] [Tech] …
  • Sequences = flows like [Product] → [UX] → [Tech] → [Ops]
  • Genes = ● rules sitting on those flows
  • Alignment = how well all of the above respect the Core DNA sentence
High alignment ⇒ low entropy.