By Hank Moore, Corporate Strategist
Every business, company, or organization goes through cycles in its evolution. At any point, each program or business unit is in a different phase from the others. Every astute organization assesses the status of each branch on its Business Tree™ and orients its management and team members to meet constant changes and fluctuations.
It’s not that some organizations click and others do not but multiple factors cause momentum or the lack thereof. As companies operate, all make honest and predictable mistakes. Those with a willingness to learn from the mistakes and pursue growth will be successful. Others will remain stuck in frames of mind that set themselves up for the next round of defeat or, at best, partial success.
The saddest fact is that businesses do not always know that they’re doing anything wrong. They do not realize that a big picture must exist or what it could look like. They have not been taught or challenged on how to craft a big picture. Managers, by default, see band-aid surgery as the only remedy for problems.
Is it any wonder that organizations stray off course? Perhaps no course was ever charted. Perhaps the order of business was to put out fires as they arose rather than practicing preventive safety on the kindling organization.
4 Layers of Organizations that Go Bad through Self-inflicted Crises
- Self Destructive Intelligence -There exists a logic override. Since the company does not believe itself to be smart enough to do the right things, then it creates a web of rationalism. Since the mind often plays tricks on itself, management capitalizes upon that phenomenon with people who may question or criticize.
- Hubris – This quality destroys those who possess it. Such executives exhibit stubborn pride, believing their own spin doctoring, and surrounding themselves with people who spin quite well on their behalf. They adopt a “nobody does it as well as we can” mentality. Such companies scorn connections, collaborations, and partnering with other organizations.
- Narcissism – Company executives possess excessive conceit. They are disconnected from outside forces, self-centered, and show a cruel indifference to others. The view is that the world must gratify them.
- Collective Stupidity – Such organizations have totally reshaped reality to their own viewpoints. The emperor really has no clothes, but everyone overlooks the obvious and avoids addressing it forthrightly. The organization dumbs down the overall intelligence level so that people are in the dark and cannot readily make judgment calls. Some departmental units do not interface with others.
7 Defeating Signs for Growth Companies
- Systems are not in place to handle rapid growth.
- Their only interest is in booking more new business rather than taking care of what they’ve already got.
- Management is relying upon financial people as the primary source of advice while ignoring the rest of the picture.
- Team empowerment suffers. Morale is low or uneven. Commitment from workers drops because no corporate culture was created or sustained.
- Customer service suffers during fast-growth periods. They have to back-pedal and recover customer confidence by doing surveys.
- People do not have the same vision as the company founder who has likely not taken enough time to fully develop a vision and obtain buy-in from others.
- Company founder remains arrogant and complacent, losing touch with marketplace realities and changing conditions.
Everything we are in business stems from what we have been taught or not taught. A career is all about devoting resources to amplifying talents and abilities with relevancy toward a viable end result.
Business evolution is an amalgamation of thoughts, technologies, approaches, and commitment of the people who ask such insightful questions such as:
- What would you like for you and your organization to become?
- How important is it to build an organization well, rather than constantly spend time in managing conflict?
- Who are your customers?
- Do successful corporations operate without a strategy-vision?
- Do you and your organization presently have a strategy-vision?
- Are businesses really looking for creative ideas? Why?
- If no change occurs, is the research and self-reflection worth anything?
Failure to prepare for the future spells certain death for businesses and industries in which they function. The same analogies apply to personal lives, careers, and bodies of work. Greater business awareness and heightened self-awareness are compatible and part of a holistic journey of growth.
