How my HDO Degree Shapes my Work
“When does your Human Dimensions of Organizations (HDO) degree apply to your work?” This is a question I sometimes get asked. My answer is simple: I use it every single day.
My work lives at the intersection of strategy, culture, and leadership by helping organizations unlock commitment, build trust, and deliver results in ways that are both human and high-performing. What my HDO experience gave me was the ability to see the whole board. How purpose, people, and performance fit together in the complex puzzle of organizational life.
Before HDO, I came in strong on the art side of leadership. I understood communication, intuition, and influence—the human side of getting work done. HDO provided me with the science to support it: how systems shape behavior, how culture forms, and why people respond the way they do in the face of change.
And where I already had the science, for example, in decision-making, HDO helped me rediscover the art. It taught me to look beyond logic and into the subtler dynamics: how emotion, bias, and belonging influence what we decide and how we commit. That combination has made me a more compassionate, strategic, resilient, and agile leader—someone who can hold both the data and the dialogue, the structure and the story.
The Lasting Impact of HDO
Today, 10 years later, I still see the impact of HDO everywhere in my work. It shows up when I help teams reconnect to purpose and align on what really matters. It’s there when I use our Guide Principles™ (Goal Clarity, Unlock Commitment, Impactful Ideas, Decisive Action, and Execution Excellence) to help organizations translate good intentions into meaningful impact. HDO gave those principles deeper roots. It gave me the language, the frameworks, and the perspective to understand how people actually change—why they resist, what motivates them, and what helps them stay committed when things get hard.
My HDO experience also taught me that transformation isn’t just about changing systems or processes; it’s about changing people. When we understand the human system underneath and people feel seen, heard, and connected to something bigger than themselves, sustainable change happens.
What I appreciate most about this degree is that it didn’t just make me better at my job; it also made me a more well-rounded individual. It changed how I show up in all my interactions by teaching me how to listen differently, to lead with both head and heart, and to approach even the toughest challenges with curiosity, compassion, and courage.
So yes, my HDO degree is more than practical. It is the bridge between theory and practice, between people and performance. And in a world that often forgets the “human” in organization, that perspective has never been more relevant, or more needed.
Cyndee Blockinger Lake
Cyndee Blockinger Lake is the Chief Purpose Officer and Co-Founder of Blank Page LLC, in Austin, Texas. Blank Page delivers personal, relevant and actionable experiences designed to create the conditions for people to do the best work of their lives.
She has more than 30 years of leadership and business success in a variety of industries, including forward looking and growth-oriented companies in high-tech, health care, oil and gas, insurance, financial services, professional services, and nonprofits.
Before starting her current company, Lake worked at an executive level for companies including Palo Alto Medical Foundation; Intuit, Inc.; A Better Chance of Ridgefield; and First Solutions.
She has produced custom training programs, employee communication materials, driven strategic initiatives and fostered learning environments throughout her career.
A graduate of the HDO master’s degree program, her capstone project was designed to figure out how to make the culture, values and leadership profiles companies advocate for “fit for purpose” in a global environment when all of the initial design initiated in their U.S.- based organizations.
Lake brings a relentless commitment to high performing teams activated by strategic intent, compassionate leadership and creativity to every client partnership.
Her volunteer work includes various positions with Chi Omega Fraternity, which she credits with inspiring her to pursue her purpose throughout life.