Meaning of True North
Meaning of True North
True North Thinking
True North, which is always “Up” (top of a chart or map), has come to mean “doing the right thing” for organizations in terms of a culture of quality, productivity, work spirit, ethical behavior, focus on the customer and sustainability. It means you are going in the right direction and in an organizational sense, it answers the questions “Why are we in business?”, “What is our aim?” “How can we be sustainable for the long term, both in generating profits and morale for work spirit as well as contributing to a Sustainable Planet?”.
On an aviation or marine chart, the term “True North” comes from a course that will lead to the North Pole. True North is indicated on a chart by either a compass rose or a line of longitude which passes through the north and south poles. If you want to determine the course that you want to follow, measure the number of degrees that the course line varies from the longitude or latitude lines and then calculate the direction which varies from 1 to 360 degrees.
On aviation and marine charts worldwide, there are lines of variation, which are different in every part of the world. In Dayton, Ohio, the variation is 4 degrees East, which means to maintain a northerly course of 360 degrees, you must fly or cruise a magnetic heading of 356 degrees. Each organization has a different Variation, hence must determine its own Magnetic Heading to achieve a True Course of North.