Avoiding the Corporate Spiral of Doom

We’ve all been there, and it’s a pretty despairing place to be. Somehow, it most often happens on Monday mornings, just to make it extra rough and give your week that air of frustration that makes things oh so special. 

Setting the scene- It’s an important meeting with important people, dawning jackets and an air thick with self-importance. Important things are being discussed. Important decisions are to be made. There are three milk options on the table, none of which come from a cow. Yes- it’s that important. 

And yet, the conversation is focused on all the hindrances, barriers, and dysfunctions rather than the path forward. The important people have all been here before, and have seen this and every other path.  “We don’t have the right people/ resources/ time/ budget/ structure/ approvals”. (Circle all that are relevant). It’s a slippery-slope that rarely leads to positive, actionable next steps. It’s the corporate spiral downward. 

Their saving grace? A young college graduate for whom this is a first team meeting, after starting just a few weeks prior. Through the thick cacophony of discourse and despair, she asks a simple question that surprises the screen glared faces around a mahogany table. This is the first time in years a positive narrative has been sowed. The solution has begun to manifest simply by her uttering that simple question, “What does success look like for us?”. And then, silence…

Organizations and teams often find themselves in the corporate spiral downward, even with the best people, intentions, resources, and environments. We all get so focused on the immediate tasks ahead of us that losing sight of where we are going, and why we want to get there happens slowly at first but rapidly gains momentum as decisions are made.  

The following few steps will help you and your team take a healthy step back and realign your activities, priorities, and efforts towards the True North which is why you show up on a daily basis seeking impactful work.

1) Identify what the ultimate goal of the organization is.

In the words of Chesire cat,” If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”  

The first step towards success is defining what this looks like.  Gain more profit?  Create more impact?  Grow the company?  This ultimate goal must be determined first, otherwise how will the organization ever know when they have arrived?  Without a clear, defined goal the finish line keeps getting moved and there is no sense of excitement or accomplishment.  You run the rat race over and over and burnout is inevitable.  

2) Identify the most basic, measurable task to be accomplished towards that goal.  Do that.

The goal has been defined, great but now what?  Identify the most basic, easily achievable task that can be accomplished towards that goal.  Perhaps this is creating common definitions across departments.  What does equity mean?  What does impact mean?  Creating common definitions allows for coordination and collaboration across  departments.  

Examining this larger workload to discover what truly “needs” to be done and what would be “nice” to get done.  In every organization, there are things that need to be done and things that need to be done well.  Great organizations discern between the two in order to filter down the things that need to be done so that focusing on that which needs to be done well can be kept at the forefront.  

3) Reevaluate the ultimate goal using data 

The common theme between these two basic, measurable tasks is exactly that, they are both basic and measurable.  As the initial process of striving towards a goal is gaining momentum, data must be collected so that evaluation of success or failure can be determined.  As this data is being collected, organizing all disparate elements across departments will allow for a faster flow towards information and then insight as to how the steps are affecting the goal.  

This organization of data takes on the form of cleaning, aligning, aggregating, and managing.  Having data at the heart and soul of evaluation removes opinions from the space and leaves behind facts which can be grown and decided upon. 

4) Repeat

An organization brought on a bright young woman into a floundering environment of negativity and helplessness.  She recognized that this is not the way organizations or, to be sure, people in general should operate.  Our young college grad reframed the situation and helped the organization define what success looks like for them.  She laid out basic, measurable steps in such a way that progress towards that goal could begin.  As the steps were being completed, data was collected so that failure or success could be determined.  The final, and most important step, is to not stop with small wins such as this.  Determine another step.  Take it.  Measure it.  Repeat.  In the words of Laozi,” A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and these steps are the beginning of a journey towards a better, more successful organization.  

Summary

Throughout the process described above, as deliberate, purposeful steps are taken in the direction of the goal, momentum is gained and success will become larger and larger.  The spiral towards success and away from it starts slow at first, but the momentum quickly builds.  Data is the way in which direction can be determined.  Data can provide clarity.  Data makes complicated steps simple.  Data is the heart and soul of every organization and as information continues to evolve, this will only become more true.  Every organization and individual has the potential for greatness and failure held within, and data allows us to truly see what direction we are heading.