Every organization has room to improve. Most organization leaders know improvement is needed as well as how specifically they would like to evolve but do not have the time or energy to bring their clear ideas to fruition because they are short on leadership capacity.
There is almost always a great deal of untapped capacity right under their noses embodied in those in their organization who are itching for a way to make a difference and who are ready to step up and lead the way to making things better.
There are three to keep in mind with respect to how organizations evolve.
There Is No One Right Organization
The organization that will work is the one a group decides to make work, after much study and debate, despite its flaws. It is easy to make any organization fail. It is harder to make one work. Continue reading How organizations evolve.→
Over time, organizations perform at some level. After start-up things fall into place leading to a period of rapid growth.
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The rate of growth eventually slows and then plateaus perhaps due to new technology that spawns competition or maybe due to the organization slowing down in the face of its increased scope, scale, and complexity of operations.
At any point along the way there are three choices:
One is to keep doing things the way they have always been done. Most of the time keeping things the same is the right answer because to do otherwise means constant change which leads to chaos. On the other hand if an organization always only does that which it has done to be successful up to now someone or something will eventually overtake and possibly bury it. One-product organizations such as some that sold buggy whips, record players, and video rentals are examples of those that rode a wave to oblivion. Continue reading How leaders should think about the importance of determining what is most important to change next.→
