It's a hard time to be in business, whatever your business is. A lot of nonprofit organizations and churches, for example, are experiencing shrinkage in both financial resources and membership. Unfortunately, when the going gets tough, a lot of these organizations don't "get going." Instead, they become:
- more and more inwardly focused;
- less willing to take the kinds of risks that innovation demands;
- more likely to be torn apart by internal conflicts over who gets the share of scare resources;
- more suspicious of outsiders and perceived "competitors";
- less open to new ideas and new people;
- more protective of their customs, traditions, and "the way we've always done it";
- more centralized and top-down in their decision-making;
- a lot less interesting or fun to be a part of.
Sound anything like the organization you're a part of? Here are four things you can do to get yourself (and others) going when things get tough:
- Remember that your organization is more like a living organism than it is like a machine.
The basic idea here is that you can't become everything you are capable of becoming unless your "deficiency needs" are met. What that means is that, in times of stress, your organization is probably going to have a pretty strong survival instinct kick in. Anything new is going to be perceived by the organization as a threat, even if some or even many of the people in the organization are open to change. The organization itself will resist innovation.
Remembering this will help you push hard against the organization but go gentle on people, even on those who appear to you to be digging in their heals and creating roadblocks to positive change.
- Try to determine if the threat to survival is real.
Your organization (and many or most people in it) are most likely functioning with a 20th century, modern industrial mindset that views your environment as a threat; resources as scarce; and your neighbor as something to be conquered and/or converted. This is how business has been done and how it has been taught for decades, even in nonprofit management programs and seminaries. It's wrong.
Organizations in the emerging future will become more collaborative and learn to work in asset-based, renewable ways. The planet and its people will be viewed as partners in creating a positive new future, not threats that have to be managed.
But that modern way of perceiving reality is so powerful that even in good times it creates anxiety. People feel like, no matter how much they have, it's never enough. And they are afraid of losing what they do have.
Is this free-floating anxiety, rooted in a faulty worldview, what's driving the behavior of your organization right now? Is "the threat" really as bad as it seems? Is "the threat" even real? Ask yourself and others these questions. In order to see possibilities for action, you have to know what the real situation is.
- Keep the main thing the main thing.
Your organization may be fighting for its life but, odds are, the survival of your organization is not your own bottom line. It isn't even your organization's bottom line! Not really. So, what is? What really matters? What is your core purpose? Stay focused on doing that and you'll be more clear-headed as your organization moves through tough times.
Remind yourself that, in some cases, the best way to accomplish what really matters is to let your organization die. Your organization will do everything in its power to prevent that from happening. And we're not saying that's what should happen. But unless you're willing to sacrifice your organization for the sake of the main thing, it's not really the main thing.
Have this conversation with others. Keep asking purposeful questions that will drive people right to the heart of what matters. Set yourself and others free from having to protect the organization at all costs. The irony is that you'll all be able to be more creative and more effective, which is exactly what your organization needs right now.
- Don't lose your sense of humor (or get it back quick if you already lost it).
Few things chase away fear faster than laughter, and when laughter is shared, it's even better. Invite people to work playfully with you; create opportunities for people to eat together; ignite (or reignite) your passion for each other and the work you share.
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