Organizational Slippage

My boss recently gave me an article on how organizations end up in a slippage mode. This article was really focused on churches, however, I sense the same thing can apply to most organizations. So, here's the highlights of this article from Gordan McDonald entitled: How A Mighty Church Falls.


McDonald quotes Jim Collins in this article and identifies five stages in the process of organization slippage.

Stage One: Hubris Born of Success

• Hubris is defined as arrogant conceit or as Collins puts it "an excessive pride"
• This is a state of over-confidence in ourselves, our systems, and our successes
• This often makes leaders blind to weaknesses within an organization
• Reality: in this state there is a tendency to understate the problem and overstate your ability to accomplish

Stage Two: Undisciplined Pursuit of More

• It is about getting larger and larger, more and more expansive, even if it costs the organization its soul
• Overreaching stems from a temptation to think that if we're good at what we're doing, we can do anything else just as successfully
• Sometimes this can mean migrating toward "more" and away from "wisdom"

Stage Three: Denial of Risk and Peril

• Leaders and organizations ignore or minimize critical information or refuse to listen to things they do not want to hear
• Collins is concerned for organizations who base their decisions on the basis of inadequate or mismanaged information
  
• The most valuable information came through trusted, wise people who were empowered to systematically engage the community in conversation and with questions designed ahead of time
  

Stage Four: Grasping for Salvation

• Lurching for a "silver bullet"
• Betting big on an unproven product
• Hiring promise-making consultants or seeking a new hero-type leader who can ride in on a white horse and singlehandedly save the day
• A sense of desperation for a breakthrough victory

Stage Five: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

• At what point did it start down the slope of organizational death?
• Who missed the hidden signs?
• Who ignored the core convictions?
• Who misinterpreted the information?