Organizational Survival

Will your current organization survive the next decade? Blockbuster recently announced they will be closing their 300 remaining stores. That’s down from around 9000 at the peak. While their story is a unique blend of poor management and rapidly changing technology, it drives home the importance of and uncertainty of organizational survival.

For years now, I’ve thought about something that seems to occur in many organizations. I’ve tried to come up with a clever name for the phenomenon but so far, haven’t settled on anything. The term “mission creep” has already been used to describe something related but different. I’ve considered “The Hal 9000 Effect” but I’m not sure how many people would get the reference. “Organizational Darwinism” comes pretty close but still doesn’t clearly describe what I’m talking about. Perhaps this concept has already been described and named and someone will let me know?

The word organization is derived from the word organize and in its most common usage refers to a social entity with a collective goal. The root word organ typically refers to a collection of tissue joined to serve a common function. Notice there’s not much difference in definition?

The word organism is closely related and refers to an individual life from. In many ways, organizations behave as living things. Wikipedia says an organism is “capable of responding to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole.” Other than the part about reproduction, don’t those sound like vital components of a successful organization?

If we start to look at organizations as living things, we start to understand the importance of growth and development. That’s what living things do. They attempt to adapt and function in ways that promote their own growth and development. Is your organization any different?

Growth and development are important for all types of organizations. I’ve often said the primary difference between a for-profit and not-for-profit organization is whether you call the bottom line a profit or a surplus. If you call it a deficit, you probably won’t have to worry about it for long.

There isn’t usually any mention of growth or development in an organizational mission statement. Are these needs so obvious that most people just assume they are understood and neglect to mention them?

I realize the topics of growth, sustainability, and profits don’t fit very well with the flowery buzzwords typically used in most mission statements. Companies use mission statements to inspire and impress. Apparently these topics aren’t very impressive.

When we neglect these topics, we run a some risks. The first is when the stated mission takes precedence over the growth and development of the organization. We can focus so much on the service or product that we neglect the needs of the organization. We may not hear much about these organizations because they probably don’t last long enough to merit notice.

Beginning counselors often struggle with adjusting to the realities of corporate and organizational operations. They got into this business to help people and now they’re faced with all the pressures of revenue and productivity. As a result, I’ve seen some counselors become pretty disillusioned early in their careers.

The opposite problem, and the one I’m trying to come up with a name for, is when the growth and development of the organization takes precedence over the stated mission. It’s when organizations take on a life of their own and stray from their stated purpose. They grow for growth’s sake with no concern for why.

No organization is completely immune to these pressures. While churches may have a primary goal of spiritual growth for the members or spreading a message, they inevitably spend a considerable amount of time focusing on the growth and development of the organization. Some are better at balancing these pressures than others but some obviously aren’t.

Labor unions started with the goal of protecting and advocating for the rights of the workers. However, I’ve witnessed many examples of unions “sacrificing” certain workers by refusing reasonable negotiations with employers. The result may have been an increased position of power for the union, but at what cost? They become so focused on membership numbers or political power that they lose sight of their original goals.

Charitable organizations struggle with these same problems. Their stated intent is to meet some need they have identified as important. Unfortunately, many seem to shift focus to growing and developing the organization, sometimes at the expense of, or at least with little regard for the original mission. I’ve heard of many workers at charities getting “burned out” with the constant pressure to perform and generate donations.

Counseling organizations are certainly not immune to these problems. We’ve probably all seen agencies that seem to grow for growth’s sake. If there is a grant or revenue stream available, they will apply for it or develop a program to capture it. It’s as if the organizational mission statement is “to grow and expand wherever possible as much as possible”.

Of course the danger is that you lose your focus…that you forget why you’re even in business to begin with. When the growth and survival of the organization becomes the purpose of the organization, you run the risk of evolving from a healthy organism into something closer to a virus or parasite.

After lengthy meetings about organizational functions, I’ve heard one of the leaders ask the team “how many people did we help today?” It’s a way of reminding us all why we’re actually in the business we’re in. As leaders, we need to be reminded of that occasionally.

As with most problems, it seems the first step is developing an awareness that the problem exists. Does your organization acknowledge the need to balance the needs of clients with the needs of the organization? How do they balance these pressures? Or do they? As always, I’d love to hear stories, comments or questions for each of you.