The Company Genome Map - DNA Framework

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.

3. Zooming In: Hierarchy as Symbols

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)

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.

​The Whole Thing in One View

​2. Legend (What Each Symbol Means)

​3. Zooming In: Hierarchy as Symbols

​a) Top Level – DNA

​b) Strands – The 12 Core Systems

​c) Sequences – How Work Actually Flows

​d) Genes – The Atomic Rules

​4. How Interactions Work (with Symbols)

​Inheritance (one strand influencing others)

​Conflict (when two strands pull opposite ways)

​Constraint (one strand limiting another)

​5. The Structural Logic in One Formula