This question isn’t as simple as it looks at first glance. I think the answer will come in two parts: 1) what are the criteria for defining a great organization? and 2) what are the components – the ingredients, principles and processes – that make an organization great?
Criteria: How do you define – or recognize – a great organization?
Let’s deal with the criteria first. Until you define the qualities of a great organization, you won’t recognize one even if you’re in it, nor will you be able to form, reform, or transform your organization into a great one.
How about size? Is a large organization a great one? Is the largest organization in its category the greatest one?
What about automobiles? Is Toyota the best car company in the world because it builds the most vehicles? Or is Mercedes-Benz the best, based on its reputation for engineering and quality? How about Rolls-Royce, based on its reputation for elegance and prestige? Maybe the winner is Lamborghini, which claims to be building just 20 of the most expensive cars in the world, the Sesto Elementos. Competing for the same honor – most expensive car – is Bugatti, whose Veyron 16.4 Super Sport has a top speed of 253 miles per hour. Maybe the best car company in today’s world should be the one that produces the “greenest” cars: those that are the most environmentally friendly.
What about computer companies? Is Microsoft the greatest computer company, based on ubiquity of its office software? Or is it Apple, based on the popularity of its iPod, iPhone, and IPad? Is it Google, the leader in search engines, or Facebook, the leader in social media?
What about churches? Is Lakewood Church in Houston the greatest? According to Church Growth Today, it’s the largest and fastest growing church in America. It meets in the largest venue, and Pastor Joel Osteen’s weekly sermons are viewed in almost 100 nations. Or is it Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, whose pastor, Tim Keller, has become the inspiration and mentor for a new generation of ministers who want to engage the culture with a biblically centered, intellectually vigorous exploration of the Christian Faith? With its “Redeemer City to City” structure, it hopes “to build a global movement of leaders and practitioners who build upon and adapt our ‘DNA’ to create new churches, new ventures, and new expressions of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the common good.”
It doesn’t take long to realize the size may not be the best criterion – or at least the only one – for determining greatness. And there are many other criteria, including customer satisfaction, employee workplace satisfaction, stock price, market valuation, and reputation.
Two things seem to come to the front. First, your organization will need to establish its own definition of what it means to be great. Your mission and priorities will determine what will make your group great. Second, you will likely find that your organization’s standard of greatness will be a blend of several criteria. You don’t want short-term profits at the loss of customer satisfaction, for example, or your success will be short-lived. You will probably need to establish your own matrix of standards and benchmarks to define what greatness will look like for your organization.
Components: What do you need to create a great organization?
There’s no simple answer to this question, either. But it seems to me the answer lies more in the intangibles than in physical factors like location and capitalization.
Here are five things that you need to create a great organization.
Purpose. You need to have a goal. A target. Something you want to accomplish. And this usually involves taking advantage of an opportunity or meeting a need (even if, or especially if, it’s a need that no one else perceives).
Plan. You need a road map for reaching your goal. With, of course, the full realization that you will encounter roadblocks and detours along the way that will force you to revise your map.
Passion. Everybody else in your industry or category is competing hard. If you don’t give it 100%, you’ll be left in the dust. If you’re going to do something, do it well and do it with passion. As the ancient wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes (9:10) reminds us: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...”
Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was Amazon.com. But in a culture that’s wants instant results and even-sooner gratification, it’s difficult to be patient.
Organizations that yield to the pressure (from Wall Street analysts, for example) may have a successful quarter, at least in terms of profits, but won’t see long-term success.
At the same time, you can’t let patience become an excuse for lack of progress. The secret is steps. Incremental steps. Set short-term goals that can be quantified and achieved, abut that still lead toward your long-term purpose. Achieving each successive short-term goal will energize your organization for the next step towards the ultimate goal.
Persistence. Here’s the bad news. Two pieces of bad news, actually. First, it’s ferociously hard to get your organization to greatness, and second, it’s impossible to rest on that particular mountaintop. The only constant is change. If you do get your organization to a place where people are calling it great, you can expect something to change, and the process of Purpose-Plan-Passion-Patience-Persistence can start all over again. Organizations are like life, I guess. It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.
-----
So what makes an organization great? In terms of “what” -- I can’t tell you. Probably no one can. You have to decide for yourself how you define greatness. And in terms of “how” – I can’t give you specifics here either. Probably no one can. Again, you’ll have to determine for yourself how your organization will pursue greatness.
I doubt that anything written here is new to you. But as C. S. Lewis pointed out, most people don’t need to be taught, they need to be reminded. So take a minute, step back and look at your organization with fresh eyes. Maybe there are new ways to define what greatness would look like for your organization. And maybe there are news ways to achieve that greatness.
And maybe we at GREATIFIERS can help. Sometimes you just need someone to ask the questions you’ve forgotten or suggest the routes that you don’t see.
Criteria: How do you define – or recognize – a great organization?
Let’s deal with the criteria first. Until you define the qualities of a great organization, you won’t recognize one even if you’re in it, nor will you be able to form, reform, or transform your organization into a great one.
How about size? Is a large organization a great one? Is the largest organization in its category the greatest one?
What about automobiles? Is Toyota the best car company in the world because it builds the most vehicles? Or is Mercedes-Benz the best, based on its reputation for engineering and quality? How about Rolls-Royce, based on its reputation for elegance and prestige? Maybe the winner is Lamborghini, which claims to be building just 20 of the most expensive cars in the world, the Sesto Elementos. Competing for the same honor – most expensive car – is Bugatti, whose Veyron 16.4 Super Sport has a top speed of 253 miles per hour. Maybe the best car company in today’s world should be the one that produces the “greenest” cars: those that are the most environmentally friendly.
What about computer companies? Is Microsoft the greatest computer company, based on ubiquity of its office software? Or is it Apple, based on the popularity of its iPod, iPhone, and IPad? Is it Google, the leader in search engines, or Facebook, the leader in social media?
What about churches? Is Lakewood Church in Houston the greatest? According to Church Growth Today, it’s the largest and fastest growing church in America. It meets in the largest venue, and Pastor Joel Osteen’s weekly sermons are viewed in almost 100 nations. Or is it Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, whose pastor, Tim Keller, has become the inspiration and mentor for a new generation of ministers who want to engage the culture with a biblically centered, intellectually vigorous exploration of the Christian Faith? With its “Redeemer City to City” structure, it hopes “to build a global movement of leaders and practitioners who build upon and adapt our ‘DNA’ to create new churches, new ventures, and new expressions of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the common good.”
It doesn’t take long to realize the size may not be the best criterion – or at least the only one – for determining greatness. And there are many other criteria, including customer satisfaction, employee workplace satisfaction, stock price, market valuation, and reputation.
Two things seem to come to the front. First, your organization will need to establish its own definition of what it means to be great. Your mission and priorities will determine what will make your group great. Second, you will likely find that your organization’s standard of greatness will be a blend of several criteria. You don’t want short-term profits at the loss of customer satisfaction, for example, or your success will be short-lived. You will probably need to establish your own matrix of standards and benchmarks to define what greatness will look like for your organization.
Components: What do you need to create a great organization?
There’s no simple answer to this question, either. But it seems to me the answer lies more in the intangibles than in physical factors like location and capitalization.
Here are five things that you need to create a great organization.
Purpose. You need to have a goal. A target. Something you want to accomplish. And this usually involves taking advantage of an opportunity or meeting a need (even if, or especially if, it’s a need that no one else perceives).
Plan. You need a road map for reaching your goal. With, of course, the full realization that you will encounter roadblocks and detours along the way that will force you to revise your map.
Passion. Everybody else in your industry or category is competing hard. If you don’t give it 100%, you’ll be left in the dust. If you’re going to do something, do it well and do it with passion. As the ancient wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes (9:10) reminds us: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...”
Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was Amazon.com. But in a culture that’s wants instant results and even-sooner gratification, it’s difficult to be patient.
Organizations that yield to the pressure (from Wall Street analysts, for example) may have a successful quarter, at least in terms of profits, but won’t see long-term success.
At the same time, you can’t let patience become an excuse for lack of progress. The secret is steps. Incremental steps. Set short-term goals that can be quantified and achieved, abut that still lead toward your long-term purpose. Achieving each successive short-term goal will energize your organization for the next step towards the ultimate goal.
Persistence. Here’s the bad news. Two pieces of bad news, actually. First, it’s ferociously hard to get your organization to greatness, and second, it’s impossible to rest on that particular mountaintop. The only constant is change. If you do get your organization to a place where people are calling it great, you can expect something to change, and the process of Purpose-Plan-Passion-Patience-Persistence can start all over again. Organizations are like life, I guess. It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.
-----
So what makes an organization great? In terms of “what” -- I can’t tell you. Probably no one can. You have to decide for yourself how you define greatness. And in terms of “how” – I can’t give you specifics here either. Probably no one can. Again, you’ll have to determine for yourself how your organization will pursue greatness.
I doubt that anything written here is new to you. But as C. S. Lewis pointed out, most people don’t need to be taught, they need to be reminded. So take a minute, step back and look at your organization with fresh eyes. Maybe there are new ways to define what greatness would look like for your organization. And maybe there are news ways to achieve that greatness.
And maybe we at GREATIFIERS can help. Sometimes you just need someone to ask the questions you’ve forgotten or suggest the routes that you don’t see.
Most people don’t need to be taught, they need to be reminded. This is GREAT stuff Merlin. Thanks!
ReplyDelete