[Blog] Systems and Structures

In any business or nonprofit organization, a clear definition of the need is essential to produce a compelling motivation to succeed. Entrepreneurs notice a gap in the market they can fill by creating a new company or a new product. Visionary leaders are moved with compassion to establish nonprofit organizations to meet the needs of distressed people. In each organization, success is defined simply and succinctly. If it’s too complex, it can’t capture the imaginations of staff teams, employees and volunteers—and it won’t touch the hearts of those they’re trying to impact.

The need creates the vision

Vision isn’t born in a vacuum. A leader’s vision is the result of being gripped by a palpable need. Who is being bypassed in our community? Who is in trouble and desperately needs help? What products do people want and need? What are the opportunities that aren’t being realized, and what are the challenges holding people back?

The need propels the what and why questions, which shape the leader’s vision. After the vision becomes clear, the next question I ask is always: “Who do I need to help me meet this need and make the vision a reality?” It’s never how, when, where or how much. I don’t think about buildings, budgets or schedules until I’ve found the indispensable human resources: a mentor, a coach or a model I can follow. I ask, “Who has experience I can draw from?” “Who is doing it well right now?” “Who has learned the most important principles I need to apply?” “Who can connect me with the best available resources?”

Look at systems and structures

When I talk to people who have been leading for a long time, I notice many of them are frustrated. Business leaders may tell me, “We have good products and a good sales team. Our manufacturing is doing well, and our warehouse gets products out on time. I can’t understand why our company isn’t growing any faster.” Similarly, pastors confide, “We have a talented worship team, people say they like my messages, and we have plenty of good programs. So why are we still stuck at 300 people (or 2000 or wherever their growth has been arrested)?”

They’re telling me they’re not happy with their size and speed, but they keep doing the same things over and over again, hoping the results will magically change the next time. But it’s not exactly the same things—in their frustration, they try to work harder, they ask more from their people, they’re a little more intense and they desperately search for the “missing ingredient” of success. None of these solutions provides more than a fleeting promise of change. In most cases, they’re not asking the right questions.

Instead, they need to step back to analyze their systems and structures. If they improve these, size and speed almost inevitably follow. Systems aren’t just buildings, programs, products and budgets. They are processes that create and use buildings, programs, products and budgets to facilitate growth and change. The systems include the organization’s platforms, communication tools and training devices to impart vision, inspire hope to meet the need and enlist passionate involvement. When the commitment to make systems excel takes root in an organization, every planning meeting, every leadership event, every building, every dollar and every communication becomes saturated with meaning. The organization’s systems become well-oiled, powerful machines to accomplish great things.

The structure is the organizational chart of people who work together. We don’t just fill in boxes on a chart. We find passionate, skilled people who see the system as an essential tool to meet the compelling need and make the vision a reality.

Systems and structures are inextricably related, and they enable the organization to reach out to touch their community. The beating heart of an organization’s systems is the set of connections leaders have with their audience. Do the customers, the people in the congregation or the needy people in the community believe the organization cares about them? How do we connect with people in the community or our customers? How do we recruit employees and volunteers? How do we develop leaders? Has the senior leader created a culture where employees, staff teams, administrators and volunteers are enamored with the vision?

Ultimately, all questions are people questions. How do we touch them? How do we draw them in? How do we empower them? How do we make decisions so everyone feels heard and understood? How do we celebrate their accomplishments?

The life cycle of an organization    

One of the ways to understand the life cycle of any organization is to identify the current position in the order of five distinct phases:

—The entrepreneurial (or discovery) phase is the exciting beginning when every dream seems possible.

—The emerging (or growth) phase is when the vision begins to take definite shape, leaders are empowered and the organization sees real progress.

—The established (or maintenance) phase is a time when leaders take a deep breath, enjoy their success and watch their systems function well. But this phase is also dangerous because it can easily lead to complacency.

—The erosion (or survival) phase is evident when the organization shows signs of decline, and the earlier vision seems unreachable.

—The enterprising (or reinvention) phase is the result of a deeper grasp of the need, a renewed vision, fresh enthusiasm and new strategies to meet the need. Giving an existing organization a fresh charge of vision and energy is very difficult, but it’s essential for future flourishing.

This life cycle of organizations is true in this exact order for businesses, churches, shopping malls, neighborhoods, marriages and every other type of human enterprise.

At every point in the phases of an organization’s existence, leaders need to step back and ask the bigger questions about systems and structures. The fulfillment of their initial hopes for size and speed depends on putting these elements in place, and the turnaround from erosion to enterprising depends on them taking a hard look at their existing systems and structures and making bold new decisions. For instance, instead of assuming you made a bad hire, it might be more productive to assess the process you used: how well you selected, trained and empowered the person to thrive in the system and structure of the organization. Did you hire to meet a particular need in the system, and did you communicate the specifics of how the person would contribute to meet the fundamental need and fulfill the vision? Did you make the “win” crystal clear to the person? For instance, if you hire an executive for a department of a manufacturing company, what production goals did you set for this person? If you hire a youth pastor, did you make it clear that you expect growth in multiple areas, such as a specific goal in overall attendance by a certain date, the number of volunteers, the level of parent involvement, communication to students and parents and the number of students who go to summer camp?

The goals of increased size and speed are the result of creating and expanding the system and structure in the business, the nonprofit or the church—and the new hire needs to see the clear connection. Too often, people we hire don’t understand how they fit in. We just hire them and hope for the best. This strategy may work for a few bright people who take a lot of initiative, but not for most.

The task of leadership, then, isn’t just to give people goals, but to help them utilize effective systems and structures to reach those goals. When we give lofty goals without the underlying framework, we create confusion and pressure . . . and sometimes despair and panic.

The other side of the equation is that some leaders get so fixated on fine-tuning their existing systems and structures that they forget the need and the vision. For instance, the recent trend in education is long-distance learning, which means online classes. Some educators dug in their heels for years because they were wedded to people showing up in their classrooms several times a week. But the goal of providing quality education at a reasonable cost for busy people created a revolution in the delivery system. The need shaped a new, clear vision, which drove innovation in the systems and structures.

Many businesses and churches have fallen in love with “the way we do things around here,” so they seldom if ever evaluate them according to the pressing need and the compelling vision. Culture changes, and delivery systems become antiquated in a hurry. We need to stay alert and nimble, always keeping the vision fresh and open to creative new ways of fulfilling it.

Climbing out of stagnation

If you feel stuck and your solutions are only creating more tension and frustration, I want to offer some words of encouragement:

—You aren’t alone! You’re in good company! You aren’t the first person to feel like your organization is in a rut, and you won’t be the last. Others have found a way out of the quagmire of stagnation, and you can too.

—The solution isn’t as difficult as you might think. Sure, you’ve tried a dozen different “sure fire” answers, and none of them brought lasting change. But this time, I’m suggesting a different way of looking at your organization and your role as the leader.

—Identify the need your organization is designed to meet, and clarify the vision to meet it. Yes, you’ve probably said it a thousand times before, but is it fresh to you? Do you own it? Let it keep you awake at night again with stunning possibilities.

—Then, conduct a thorough analysis of your systems and structures. How are decisions made? How does communication happen? Who has authority and responsibility? Which programs are vital, and which are just nice things to do? Who is passionate about meeting the need and fulfilling the vision? Who has lost zeal and energy? My guess is that you’ll uncover the problem through this analysis. The systems that brought you to this point may not be the ones to take you to where you believe you want to go. Be ruthless with the analysis. It’ll pay off soon.

—Stop doubting yourself, and stop blaming your people. An undercurrent of discontent always surfaces in one way or another, often in passive aggressive behavior. We smile as we point out others’ errors—not to help them, but to make sure others know the address of the problem isn’t at our door.

—Don’t assume you have a powerful and positive culture. Work hard to create the kind of environment where people thrive. An organization’s culture—ranging from inspiring to stagnant to toxic—is created moment-by-moment and conversation-by-conversation in messages that communicate meaning and value. Every planning meeting, every board meeting, every performance review and every interaction of any kind imparts a message about what and who we value. In communication, words carry far less impact than gestures and body language. In the same way, how leaders act communicates more loudly and clearly than the words they say. And the topic and frequency of our celebrations speak volumes about our goals, our hearts and our willingness to share the spotlight with others.

—Match your stated values with your allocation of time, money and attention. Our people are watching. If we say our people are our greatest asset but the ones who work closely with us feel ignored or used, we’ve sent a very loud message that we can’t be trusted. But if our hearts genuinely break for people in need and we take time to show love to the men and women we see each day, the people around us will believe what we say about caring for others.

—Look closely at the visible symbols of the organization’s culture, such as titles, office allocation and other perks. How much are leaders held aloof from the rest of the organization, and how much are they approachable and vulnerable? These symbols are declarations of values, culture, integrity and care.

When we understand that size and speed depend on our systems and structures, we’ll pay closer attention to the way things operate and how people are empowered and valued. When we feel stuck, we won’t just put our heads down and try harder, hoping for a different outcome. Of course, we’ll need tenacity and grit, but we’ll add wisdom, insight, and hope to our determination.

Systems must continually adapt to the needs and opportunities of the moment. Static systems gradually lose relevance, but dynamic systems anticipate evolving needs. When I talk to leaders, some of them tell me, “This is how we do things,” and I can imagine they’ve done things that way for a long time. But other leaders explain, “This is how we do things today, but we’re always learning how to adapt so we can be more effective as we pursue our biggest goals.” Some leaders assume the procedures that worked in the past will continue to work in the future, and they become frustrated when they don’t see growth. But other leaders know they need to periodically revisit each of the major systems in their organizations—sales, hiring, marketing, IT, leadership development, volunteer involvement, etc., etc.—so they can stay sharp, relevant and effective.

Strategic and tactical

Far too often, leaders and their teams move instantly from a concept to the tactical details, without giving thought to the strategic concerns of the need, systems and structure.

I believe leaders need to ask and answer five key questions—in this order—when they start any venture, and they need to keep asking them as long as they expect their organizations to grow. Consider the need and the vision for the existence of your organization and ask:

1. Is it sustainable?—Will it last? How long do I want it to last?
2. Is it scalable?—Can it grow? How far?
3. Can it be replicated?—How can it be reproduced? What parts necessarily must be replicated for growth to happen?
4. Is it functional?—How will it be organized? How will we answer the questions of who, how, when, where and how much? What will be the systems and structures?
5. Is it compelling to others?—How will we communicate the vision and plan? How will we cascade the communication from the top leaders to each tier of influence and involvement?

The first three questions are big picture and strategic; the last two are specific and tactical. People who are starting businesses and planting churches need to begin with the strategic questions and work their way to the tactics. Most leaders of existing organizations spend virtually all their time on the tactical function and communication. They seldom step back to consider the bigger questions. That’s perhaps the biggest reason their organizations stop growing (or grow more slowly than they’d like).

Let me summarize: Long seasons of stagnation can be mind-numbing. Instead of trying harder with the same systems and structures, I recommend conducting a thorough analysis: clarify the need and the vision so you’re captured again by the what and the why, and then spend plenty of time figuring out how you can reconstruct your systems and structures so they can support more size and speed.