Knowing an organization's culture is huge. Are they fun or formal? Are they process oriented or bottom line? Is their focus on people or results? We use the culture grid in the stealth or game board mode depending on the client.
When the client is formal and/or no nonsense, we merely ask questions that help us understand their culture. Questions that tell us how they engage culture - do they like Folgers or Starbucks? Is coffee part of their culture at all? Do they see themselves as an eagle (leadership), an otter (fun), or a beaver (productive)?
These types of questions not only tell us about their message, they tell us about the type of structure they would like to have, how their media should be utilized and how to communicate to their people and clients.
When we suspect that the client would benefit from an overt cultural assessment, we pull out the culture grid and work through the exercise with them. When we meet with our design team, we work though the culture grid with them so they have a feel for the organization (since they don't usually attend interviews) - this helps them with conceptual design - not only aesthetically but also ergonomically - how people interface with the design.
