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The #1 Differentiator of Thriving Organisations
By Simon Marshall
revised on 7th December 2020
Why-based organisations are special places, where trust, loyalty, collaboration and integrity are the norm and high performance is the outcome.
Why is Developing Constantly (the fourth attribute) so important?
In this world of increasing change, it is essential that organisations meet the challenges of changing economic environments, customer needs and their expectations. Businesses that do this are much more sustainable over the long term. Resulting in being able to plan and execute their investments over a longer time period, creating greater certainty and structure for their people.
To be able to do this, they have honed their ability to learn from everything they do, be adaptable in their thinking and approach, therefore become resilient. These attributes have been greatly discussed and there are many good books on each. However, it basically all boils down to this: thriving organizations have the ability to adapt to changing situations.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change”
– Charles Darwin, 1809
When these attributes are not in place, there is danger for these businesses to become fixated on what they do. When the world inevitably changes, so do their fortunes.
For example, the Swiss watch industry, an industry that had dominated quality timepieces. These timepieces had the reputation of being the most accurate in the world; if you wanted a quality watch, you bought a mechanical Swiss movement. There was nothing that kept time better.
Until quartz technology was made available for wristwatches in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The Swiss watch industry seemed to be fixated by what they did, making mechanical timepieces and largely ignored this new technology, even when directly offered it.
The Japanese and Americans took up this new technology and between 1970 and 1988, Swiss watch employment fell from 90,000 to 28,000. It took over a decade of pain before this now significantly smaller Swiss watch industry started to embrace the new technology, in the shape of Swatch and started to build back its world leading reputation.
Arguably, had the Swiss watch industry been sourced from their Higher Purpose, to be at the leading edge of timekeeping accuracy and to develop constantly, rather than sourced from what they did, make exceptional mechanical timepieces, there might have been a different, less painful outcome.
What do you need to have in place to be able to Develop Constantly and not be fixated on what it is you do?
In addition to many of the staples that ordinary organisations have in place, a clear strategy, a sound business model, great people and efficient processes. We have noticed thriving organisations have five other attributes that enable them to Develop Constantly.
- A North Star in service of their Higher Purpose – They have a powerful connection to a vision of the future, which acts as the North Star for all decision making. This vision acts as a daily visceral connection to the future everyone is bringing into existence and it’s so powerful that everyone can see their contribution inside of it. When the vision is so clearly articulated and communicated, we say the organisation is ‘moving forward from the future’.
- Looking outside as well as inside– Organisations that are developing constantly are always looking outside for new ideas, trends and what they can learn from others. It is only when they have done this can they look internally at how they are currently organised. The question they then ask themselves is: ‘Are we organised in the best way to deliver our Vision and fulfil on our Higher Purpose?’ If there are areas where this is not the case, then action is taken. Note: this is completely different from simply looking internally and improving your internal processes, no doubt that however efficient Swiss watchmakers in the 1980s were, it would have made little difference to their fortunes.
- Operating with No fear – It is well known that humans cannot be creative, innovative or indeed productive, if we are in a state of fear. Biologically and mentally, when fear kicks in, our bodies shut down non-essential functions and focus on survival, when in a work environment, we simply ‘keep our heads down’. Organisations that Develop Constantly know this and create a safe environment where people feel secure, valued and cared for, resulting in people being willing to admit when they don’t know something and try new things.
- Embracing the Power of Relationships – Organisations that Develop Constantly understand the power of relationships and trust. Relating to people for their full contribution and building the sort of relationships that you would experience in a healthy environment, one of caring for and looking after every person in the team. As Bob Chapman says in “Everybody Matters,” “The more we combine work and caring, the more fulfilled we will be and the further we will collectively advance.” Inside Why-Based Organisations, honest feedback and coaching is sought and given, inside the mutual desire for everyone to thrive.
- The Balance of Challenge and Support– These organisations have a healthy balance of challenge and support. Performance is expected and sought, people take on challenging goals knowing they have a supportive environment and working in this way is going to be exciting, stretching and empowering.
"Fear brings about that which one is afraid of."
– Viktor E Frankl
Viktor E Frankl said, “Fear brings about that which one is afraid of.” Leaders of Why-Based Organisations know how to create safe environments for their people, releasing their full potential and enabling them to do their life’s work. When we all feel safe and connected to what’s important to us, we thrive.
When we all thrive, our organisations thrive, being both high performing and adaptable.
