The Maturing Organization
Where are you and your organization on the path to organizational maturity? What steps do you need to take to encourage this maturation?
Having worked for and with a wide range of organizations, I've come to recognize three stages in organizational development and some of the opportunities and challenges associated with each.
Phase I: Getting Started
 The startup phase of an organization can be both challenging and fun. Typically the team meets around a table to discuss all items of importance and reaches decisions by consensus. Often this is a positive period relationally, but decision-making can be slowed by the feeling that everyone needs to be present to discuss and make decisions. Because startups may attract generalists and entrepreneurial types who enjoy having influence, team members grow accustomed to speaking into all corners of the organization, including those that are outside their areas of expertise and responsibility. This can feel like a highly unified period of development.
Phase II: Growing Complexity
 As the organization grows the leaders no longer fit around the table. It is counterproductive to have all of them discussing each significant decision, since many decisions are not relevant to their areas of expertise or responsibility. Leaders experience a great deal of autonomy and operate freely within their silos. As long as the individual silos are successful, it feels as though the organization is successful. Relationships among leaders may begin to suffer or be non-existent as people are added to the organization. Neither decisions nor decision-making processes are consistent across silos and the silos compete for limited resources, sometimes focusing on individual success rather than team or organizational success.
Phase III: Reaching Maturity
 Eventually the organization recognizes the need to enter the mature phase of organizational development. The senior leaders develop and implement a unified vision that drives activity within and across the silos. They don't view silos as evil - they often allow areas of the organization to work efficiently, focusing on their competencies and responsibilities. At the same time, the organization recognizes the need for standardized policies and procedures. While leaders across the organization may affirm this need, they will often act as though they are the exceptions or explicitly seek to be the exceptions to these newly implemented policies and procedures. Behaviorally and emotionally leaders resist the loss of autonomy and freedom while intellectually acknowledging the need for change. The organization must work to keep "corporate" from being interpreted as "evil empire."
This stage can lead to unified success where the success of individual silos is insufficient and where rewards are tied to both individual and organizational performance. No longer are roles and responsibilities tied to particular individuals. Instead, the organization distinguishes between positions and personnel and creates roles and responsibilities based on position. Team members recognize that positions are held at this point in time by these particular individuals and are encouraged to shed the confusion that particular individuals own the positions they hold.
Leaders must choose to undertake this organizational journey. Movement from Phase I to Phase II can happen to an organization, but movement to and maintenance of Phase III must be intentional and ongoing. Along the way leaders must relinquish the opportunity to speak into all areas of the organization and must surrender some autonomy to foster a healthy community that impacts more people than Phase I or Phase II ever allow.
At Julian Consulting we help our clients experience organizational maturity! Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.
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