On organisations..

Some thoughts on organisations :

Organisations are akin to living systems.? They are dynamic and constantly evolving even though the actors may try to prevent that or may not recognize that. The danger is when they become too rigid and no longer able to adapt to the external environment in which they reside or serve. Alternatively, when there is too little structure or boundaries they veer into the region of chaos, and either disintegrate or are no longer effective. Healthy organisations stay in the river between these two extreme river banks.

There has to be a constant and productive exchange of material and information between the organization and the environment e.g. resources, services, money etc.

For organisational growth, there is a need for capacity and capability development over time, constant scanning of the external environment and figuring out an adaptive response else you get environmental drift, in short the organization becomes less relevant.

Founder members need to let go of their emotional attachment to what they had given birth to, tolerate different perspectives and agendas which may be very different to their own, and trust that the basic object for why the organization was formed, and it's historical trajectory is sufficient to maintain the primary integrity, even if how that is achieved is very different from what they believe needs to be done. The clue that this is happening is if the organization fails to constantly attract new members without too much effort.?

People will come in and leave over time organically, as they grow and develop, their life circumstances change, some may even be dormant but still identify closely with it, and may even become active again a few years later. This is all healthy.

If too many people leave at once, it is a danger sign. It may be necessary especially when the identity of the organization has or needs to change significantly. However, it can be a problem if this happens implicitly without the leadership, the members and especially external stakeholders recognizing it or agreeing with the changing identity.

With leadership transitions, an area to watch out for is when newer people are brought in. They need the psychological safety that should be commensurate with their role. Existing leadership may not realize that they are preventing and withholding safety and misdiagnose non-action as lack of confidence, inexperience, lack of institutional memory etc. The birth of innovation and new burst of energy is stillborn.

?When younger people are brought in especially into leadership positions, the older people literally "live in a different world" and do not understand the challenges, needs and support that the young members need, and maybe often offer the wrong kinds of support or no support at all.?

The personal burdens that the leadership carry on behalf of the organization is underestimated many fold; time commitments, family challenges, pressure to make ends meet, toll on mental health, emotional guilt when they make trade offs in the interest of the organization and it's higher ideals, while compromising on spouse, family or other needs, or faced with community stigma because they are perceived to go against societal or community norms. This is especially the case in volunteer organizations.

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