ORGANIZATIONAL OBSTACLES BLOCK GROWTH
We have covered a lot of ground, so let’s reorient ourselves to the big picture and where we are in our journey. Here are a few highlights of what we’ve covered so far:
We all want to flourish personally and professionally
Flourishing = Growth, Satisfaction & Legacy
The Bible talks a lot flourishing, mostly with the word “Shalom”, and even encourages us to be Shalom-makers
The arch of the universe bends towards Shalom, but there are obstacles blocking our experience of flourishing
The 3 kinds of obstacles keeping us from flourishing are: Systemic, Organizational, and Internal
Flourishing Organizations have clarity and alignment across the four pillars:
VISION: the organization’s purpose, belief and/or destination.
JOURNEY: the organization’s processes and experiences
CULTURE: the organization’s people, culture, and values
RESULTS: the organization’s profits, metrics, and KPIs
In the coming posts we are going to unpack each of these four pillars - defining each, describing common challenges, and developing action steps for improvement. But today we are going to start with why.
Why should a leader spend their time and energy addressing organizational obstacles?
Because organizational obstacles block growth.
What’s an organizational obstacle?
Any misalignment of the 4 pillars within the organization.
What does that mean?
Here is a helpful way to visualize the relationship between the four pillars:
The order of the pillars matters. We always start with Vision. From there we go clockwise through the wheel to ensure each pillar is aligned with the others. Vision, then Journey, then Culture, then Results.
The vertical axis (Vision + Culture) represents the health of the organization. Organizations without a strong and compelling vision can’t be healthy. Organizations with a toxic culture can’t be healthy.
The horizonal axis (Journey + Results) represent the effectiveness of the organization. Organizations without a clear strategy, operations and standard processes won’t be effective. Organizations that don’t measure the right things at the right time won’t be effective.
Healthy and effective organizations grow.
Most for-profit organizations value effectiveness over health. Most non-profit organizations value health over effectiveness. Flourishing organizations value both health and effectiveness. They intuitively know they must be both healthy and effective to succeed over the long haul.
What do organizational obstacles look like practically?
There are literally hundreds of examples we could discuss, but let’s start with a hypothetical example from professional football.
Let’s say hypothetically, that you own an NFL franchise, and you want to win the Super Bowl (VISION). You’ve decided that your strategy (JOURNEY) is to be an old-school, smash-mouth, ball-control, run-based offense. You then recruit the players you need (CULTURE) to execute this strategy – a strong offensive line, a powerful running back, and Payton Manning as your quarterback.
You have a problem.
You are misaligned. Payton Manning is a hall of fame quarterback, but he is the wrong quarterback to run the offense you are designing. He wants to throw the ball 100 times a game, not hand the ball to the running back on every play. The people (CULTURE) share the same VISION, but they are not aligned on how to get there (JOURNEY) which will produce frustrating and disappointing RESULTS.
Is that a silly example? No. It happens all the time.
There are misalignments in every organization that block their health, effectiveness, and growth.
How aligned are the VISION, JOURNEY, CULTURE AND RESULTS within your organization?
Not sure? Take the Health and Effectiveness Assessment to find out:
