Select your organization well! Your well being depends upon it.
We all want to see ahead. I am going to tell you that we cannot.
Yet we as surely as we court disaster when we get behind the wheel of the car when we have been drinking, we can run our organizations recklessly. You will get out of a car that is driven by a drunk, and you should aim to stay away from badly run organizations or at least to replace its management!
Let’s assume for a moment that you are one step back and you are choosing an organization. Yes, choose. Even in a wicked recession, we choose. We choose which jobs we look at. We choose which companies we research and approach.
Even as outsiders, there are 5 things to look out for to check the health of the organization.
These ideas are based on “systems theory”. I hope any systems theorists reading this will comment.
One: We are continuously mindful of how well we are doing as a team and what it takes for the whole team to win
In plain language: Do people say “we” and do they talk about real things. Do they say things like “In December, the market is slow for us.”
Do they talk in terms of taking everyone with them? Do they make sure all the stragglers keep up and do they all cross the finishing line together?
Two: Everything matters, everything is connected to everything and connections get stronger with use!
In plain language: When you first approached the organization, did they start to “dance” with you? Or were they stiff and rigid? At the other extreme, were they hopelessly muddled?
Do they treat you like “white water”? Do they work with the river and paddle gently or do they, at one extreme, fight the river [you] or at the other, not guide their canoe efficiently [be too relaxed and out-of-it]?
Is there feeling “give and take” or is the a feeling of force and rigidity or the opposite, no order at all?
Three: History happens once. Nothing will ever happen again
In plain language: Do people in the organization tell a story of where the company came from and where they are going to? Or is the company a skeleton of procedures without any flesh?
When they talk to you about your story, do they attend to relevant parts or are they distracted by inconsequential details?
When something surprises them, do they ask questions or do they dismiss what they don’t understand?
Do they ask you how you would do things out of curiosity (and not as a test of right and wrong)?
Four: Birds fly in a flock without anyone giving orders!
In plain language: Are there 2 or 3 principles that govern this organization and are those sufficient to coordinate team work? Do people point to the team work with evident pleasure? Do they marvel that so much gets done with so little bossing around?
If you ask them what it would take to succeed on the job or fail on the job, can they give you 1 or 2 points or do they point you to manual that they haven’t read?
Five: Has the organization made unusual discoveries about what is good, true, better and possible?
In plain language: Do people talk about times when they were working as usual and then they stumbled over a new solution that was much better than they had done before?
Are they slightly mystified about how that happened? That’s a good sign. Mutation is healthy and it is only mutation when it is a surprise!
Qualify the organization
In sales, we only spend a lot of time on customers who need our products and services, who have the money to buy, and who intend to buy. We “qualify” our customers.
We also have to qualify our organizations and move towards those who are healthy!
Rating an organization
When you talk to someone about a job, rate the organization on each of the five points. How do they stack up on a scale of 0 to 25? Try it and rate organizations that are right under your nose. See if you haven’t got far healthier organizations right under your nose where you live!
Join up with people who will last the recession!
An inflexible organization will not last the recession. And nor will one who is not organized at all.
Look for a healthy firm. They will have the internal flexibility and mindfulness to adapt to the chaos in the environment. They will organize their affairs so you can grow. They will enjoy what they do and you will too.
Happy hunting and happy choosing!
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