Organization Life Cycle

1
Organization Life Cycle
A time for all seasons Start-up, growth,
maturity, decline, and termination or
revitalization
Denial Termination
Closing In
Becoming an Institution
Revitalization
Formalism Termination

• Revitalization
• May involve some particular project(s)
• Begins with newly articulated Dreams and one or
  more Ventures
• It results in Making It but does so by beginning
  over again rather than trying to inject
  vitality and effectiveness into an aging
  organization.

2
The Dream

• A time of imagining and planning by the
  founder(s). Ideas exist only in peoples minds or
  on pieces of paper.
• Great excitement
• The organization is in utero.

3
The Dream

• Key visioning questions Imagine it is the year
  ____
• How are your customers, partners, and employees
  describing your organization?
• What does your organization deeply care about?
• What type of services/products are we delivering?
• Who are we serving?
• How are we serving our customers and partners?

See handout for more detail
4
The Venture

• The organization is in its infancy and childhood.
• A time of rapid change.
• Products or services are being delivered.
  However, there are few policies and fixed
  procedures.

5
The Venture

• Do you have
• A business case?
• A business model?
• An articulated vision of the future and a
  purpose?
• Overarching goals, general process path, ground
  rules?
• An understanding of who has the D?
• If not, communicating wide scale change is
  premature!

6
Getting Organized

• Specialized roles and responsibilities evolve.
• Financial controls are established and refined.
• Employment policies are created.

7
Getting Organized

• Do you have
• A formal charter?
• Specific goals
• Project plan?
• Necessary technology?
• Financial controls?
• Formal measures?
• Clear roles?
• Identified competencies?
• Relevant employment policies?

8
After the Venture Before Getting Organized

• Common reactionsWhos stupid idea was this?
• That will never work!
• Am I going to have job?
• Where do I fit in?
• Who will I report to?
• Where will my office be?
• What will my new title say?
• What is my new job description?
• How much will I earn?
• Who is steering this ship?
• Normal? YesFun? Not!

9
Winter Golf Corollary
After the Venture Before Getting
OrganizedManaging the space in between

• Recreational Winter Golf
• Inclement weather drives the need to re-create
  the rules
• Approaches can shift midway in the effort to
  score a winning round
• The season has a beginning and ending

• Organizational Perspective
• Inclement times drive the need to re-create the
  way we do business
• Expect constant movement to seek out winning
  solutions the first idea may not work
• As new ways emerge, a sunset of our old ways
  will occur

10
Making It

• This phase can encompass many subchapters of
  growth, crisis, reorganization and reorientation.
• Rising profits are noted.
• Reputation in the market is established.

11
Making It

• Ask yourself
• Have performance targets been achieved?
• Is the reputation in the market (community) well
  established?
• Is there shared understanding of roles and
  responsibilities?
• Is staff fully proficient?
• Are policies supporting organizational need?

12
Making It- A Network of Talent
-Minimizes typecasting-Offers continual
opportunities for renewal
Team Skills, Abilities, and Behaviors
Management
Leadership
M
L
T
Task/Technical
13
Becoming an Institution

• The organization shifts from external results to
  internal style staking out territory to
  occupying it
• New people are chosen less for their talent or
  motivation than for how they will fit in with
  us
• Reputation is a given, not earned. There is a
  sense of having arrived and a loss of urgency
  about moving on
• Form becomes more important than function

14
Becoming an Institution

• Once institutionality is reached,
  organizations no longer follow the same natural
  order.
• Three choices exist

15
Becoming an Institution

• Begins with the idea that the organization is as
  strong and vital as ever
• Stakes its hopes on its reputation and the tried
  and true systems it has developed
• It is quickest path through Closing-In, and
  toward Termination

16
Becoming an Institution

• Involves a flurry of restructuring
• Some selling of old businesses and acquiring new
  ones to re-focus on our core businesses
• Reflects an effort to re-define and strengthen
  the organizations traditional culture
• This path may lead to short term success but
  ultimately insulates employees from
  revitalization
• This path still leads toward Closing-In and
  Termination

17
Closing InAn outflow of Denial and/or
FormalismA path of no return
18
Termination

• The organization is acquired, splits up, changes
  its name
• The former identity of the organization no longer
  exists. The life cycle of the organization is
  terminated
• Managing termination takes as much skill as
  managing any other phase of the life cycle

19
Becoming an Institution

• May involve some particular project
• Begins with new or newly articulated Dreams and
  one or more Ventures.
• It results in Making It but does so be beginning
  over again rather than by trying to inject
  vitality and effectiveness into an aging
  organization.
• This requires good strategic planning, a
  well-coordinated reorganization scheme, and
  tactics for dealing with the transitions
• A critical choice for mature and relatively
  inflexible organizations that are losing out to
  younger and more vital competitors.

20
Revitalization
21
Revitalization Planting new seeds of community
hope

• Diversified economy
• Growing the tax base
• Sustainability
• Economic stimulus package
• Real estate market recalibration/ Smart growth

22
Revitalization Creating new opportunities
internally

• Call Center
• Libraries of the Future
• Administrative Specialists
• Enterprise Analytics

• Capital Management Services
• Consolidated Ops Maintenance
• Integrated Code Enforcement
• GIS

Above business models Create equity and
opportunity through cross training, natural
attrition career paths
23
Enterprise organization model
Public Safety
Mobility
Growth Management
Neighborhood Preservation Enhancement
Human Services
Economic Development
Water Resources
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Strategy Mgmt.
Support -- Financial -- Talent and
Performance -- Technology -- Analytics -- GIS --
Communications -- Facilities Space Allocation
24
Organization Life CyclePulling It All Together
A Detailed Look
The Dream
The Venture
Getting Organized

• A time of imagining and planning by the
  founder(s)
• Ideas only exist in minds
• Great excitement
• In utero

• A time of rapid change
• Products or services are being delivered
  However, few policies and fixed procedures
• Infancy and childhood

• Specialized roles and responsibilities evolve
• Financial controls are established and refined
• Policies are created

• Rising profits are noted
• Reputation in market is established
• Encompass many sub chapters of growth, crisis,
  reorganization

Becoming an Institution

• Organization shifts from external results to
  internal style
• Reputation is a given, not something being earned
• A sense of having arrived and a loss of urgency
• Form becomes more important than function
• Once the institution phases is reached,
  organizations no longer follow the same natural
  order. Three choices exist Denial, Formalism or
  Rejuvenation

• Involves a flurry of restructuring
• Reflects an efforts to re-define and strengthen
  the organizations traditional culture
• Leads to short tem success but insulates from
  true revitalization
• Still leads to termination

• May involve some particular project(s)
• Begins with newly articulated Dreams and one or
  more Ventures
• It results in Making It but does so by beginning
  over again

• Begins with the idea that we are a strong and
  vital as ever
• Stakes its hopes on its reputation and the tried
  and true systems it has developed
• Quickest path toward termination

25
Final Points

• Becoming a change agent is a matter of choice-the
  choice to survive and grow personally
• You are responsible for managing your response to
  change.
• You can reduce the energy drain during change if
  you choose to use the tools that will help you
  succeed
• Invent the future instead of redesigning the past