How To Keep Your Organization Out of Ditches

Organizations sometimes end up in a ditch.
They stop hitting goals. The culture is all wrong. The mission is off-putting. The vision becomes and remains fuzzy, at best. They can’t move. Forward or backward.

This is not a rut.
It’s not tough to maneuver your way out of a rut.
Change it up a little.
Find a new path.
Get a hobby.

This is a ditch.
People (and entire organizations) get stuck in ditches.
When you’re in a ditch, it’s often difficult to figure your way out. So, start here.

Aiming at the wrong thing

Some organizations find themselves waylaid because their vision stays unclear, un-communicated, or altogether wrong. It’s rare to find an organization that has thought well about the future they want to see. The change they want to make. Lack of clarity here muddies up the tires. Ongoing lack of clarity will put an organization into a hopelessly difficult ditch.

Get out of the ditch with a clear picture of why you exist. What is the change you want to make? What is the kind of world in which you want to live?

Measuring the wrong things

What you measure is important. Too many organizations only measure sales or donations or production. That’s too simple. And one-dimensional measurement will put entire organizations into a ditch. They are on a relentless hamster wheel of frantic goal pursuit that places the entire operation into a hopeless slough of despond.

Of course, we measure those things. PNL is a given.

The harder work is figuring out causation.

What activities produce sales or donations? What are the habits that increase production? Measure that. You’ll find yourself moving out of that ditch sooner than expected.

Rewarding the wrong things

Don’t underestimate culture. Organizations should reward performance and hard work. But organizations often reward behavior that puts the culture in a ditch. When we reward power plays with increased power, or office gossip with an audience. Rewarding culturally destructive behavior will put entire organizations in a ditch where removal might take years or even be impossible.

Don’t reward behavior that destroys culture. Managers need to talk to their teams. Write down the specific behaviors and the specific situations, and make clear the resulting cultural impact.

Culture matters.

A great culture is one of the best ways to prevent getting stuck in a ditch.