Staff Meeting - Organizational Lifecycle

I. Not only does every organization have a lifecycle but so does every program, curriculum and environment that lives in the organization.

As organizational life changes, many of the questions remain the same, but the answers don’t and so the organization does not grow or transition.

The tendency is to institutionalize our answers.

1. When tradition becomes an excuse for not changing we may be out of alignment with Ruach Elohim.

2. When the lack of _______ becomes an excuse for not changing we will get out of alignment with Ruach Elohim.

3. Don’t guard something that is dying for the sake of keeping alive something that is not that important.

If we institutionalize an answer, the day will come when it is no longer an answer and the organization will not transition, develop or renew.

1. Law of OD #1 - “those who were most at home with the necessary activities and arrangements of one phase are the ones who are the most likely to experience the subsequent phase as a severe personal setback.”

2. Law of OD #2 - “the successful outcome of any phase of organizational development triggers its demise by creating challenges that it is not equipped to handle”

3. Law of OD #3 – “in any significant transition, the thing that the organization needs to let go of is the very thing that got it this far.”

4. Law of OD #4 – “whenever there is a painful, troubled time in the organization, a developmental transition is probably going on.” And, most people, will do anything to avoid pain for the sake of pleasure.

5. Law of OD #5 - “during the first half of the life cycle—through the Making-It stage—not to make a transition when the time is ripe for one to occur will cause a developmental “retardation” in the organization”

II. The Clock is ticking on every single irresistible environment you are overseeing.

We must continue to be more committed to our mission than to our programming, curriculum or our systems.

1. Over time, sustaining the model can become the mission.

· You were not hired to protect a model.

· You were hired to protect a mission.

2. Over time, the model can work against the mission.

The Minute you rolled that ministry or idea off the parking lot the clock started ticking.

1. Dreaming the Dream

· Transition

2. Launching the Venture

· Transition

3. Getting Organized

· Transition

4. Making It

· Transition

5. Becoming an Institution

· Transition

6. Closing In

· Transition

7. Dying

· Transition

Or

6a – The Path of Renewal

7a – Launch a New Beginning

Bureaucracy - excessively complicated administrative procedure, only truly known and controlled by the few.

The more committed you are to the program, curriculum, model or system then the more closed in you will become and the less concerned about the actual mission of the organization.

1. “ So it is important to remember that the most telling signs of being Closed In are not just that routine squeezes out creativity and even efficiency—though these are actual outcomes. The real hallmark of Closing In is that the organization seals itself off from effective communication with its environment and becomes preoccupied with its own inner workings to the point where operations are ritualized into secret and magical acts.” - Excerpt From: William Bridges & Susan Bridges. “Managing Transitions.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/7ksXw.l

2. Continuous-Aim Firing

III. Clearly communicate to your people each stage of the transition.

They will kill me in Jerusalem but I will rise from the dead – Matthew 17:22-23

Matthew 17:22–23 HCSB

As they were meeting in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

2. I am going away to continue working for you – John 14:1-3

John 14:1–3 HCSB

“Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

3. I will leave a present for your, the gift of my presence through Rauch Elohim – John 14:15-30

4. Thing will get tough but you will have help – John 15:18-16:15

IV. Key Questions for Discussion

What is it time for us to let go of? Or, What have we fallen in love with that’s really not as effective at it used to be?

How will we spend our time in the neutral zone?

Where are you currently spending most of your energy?

What are our assumptions? What are assumption that are off limit for discussion?

What is this new beginning going to require of us and of others in the organization?

Where are we in the organizational development phase?