The arc begins with a
divergent idea - someone's vision of the future.
This divergent thinker finds first followers to build out their vision - an
emergent team that believes in it, advocates for it, builds it. This is followed by a period of
operational growth, where the idea leads to an actual organization being built, which engages in activities to support their scaling - hiring lawyers, accountants, human resources. If it thrives and successfully moves past this stage they enter
sustain and defend mode, where all the money and value of the organization is created.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), now the organization has something to defend - but this state is likely to lead to it becoming more convergent and set in its ways, a state of
successful stagnation. On the outside things are going well, but on the inside it's all about complexity, maintenance, and internal dynamics. Top line growth is gone, leading to actions like acquisitions, staffing cuts, strategies to show shareholders they are still offering the expected financial return or impact.
But at some point a disruption that happens, often technological, that can impact society, and when the world shifts around organizations, they are no longer relevant and fall the fastest. If they have not created a culture that fosters experimentation and divergent thinking, the organization will enter the stage of
desperate decline.
It doesn't need to be that way (hint: check out our video
Diversify, Select, Amplify).
.png){kind=spacer}
