The 10 Natural Forces

1. Survival

• The same rules apply in organizations as in evolution – ultimately, only the strongest and fittest survive.
• Survival is an innate need of every organization, and each organization has its own protective traits.
• Bigger organizations will sometimes hunt smaller ones, but they won’t always be successful.
• Survival can take on many forms in organizations. It might be through acquisitions, mergers, or reorganizations.
• When an organization loses its will to survive, it will eventually cease to exist.

2. Change

• You must change to survive.
• Change almost always comes before you are ready.
• Change is not bad, despite what many say about it.
• The ability to adapt to change is the most important skill organizations and their employees can learn.
• Anticipating change can be as important as adapting to it.
• Change will continue to come in the future regardless of whether you like it or not; it doesn’t require your permission to creep into your organization.
• How you accept change is more important than how much you resist it.

3. Communication

• Communication is the key to solving most problems in organizations.
• It is better to overcommunicate.
• People have a tremendous need to receive communication on what is happening in the organization, especially during times of change. If organizations don’t fill this need, employees will find other sources.
• Employees will accept just about any news if communicated to them in a timely and honest way.
• The best leaders are usually the best communicators as well.
• Poor communication is often a symptom of a problem – not the problem itself.
• Communication is as important as oxygen to an organization.

4. Mission

• Missions serve the same purpose as a lighthouse does for ships – they light the way.
• Missions should be more than a values statement.
• Missions should explain the purpose, goals, and direction of the organization.
• Mission statements must be realistic to be believable.
• Missions should explain the vision of the organization.
• Vision tells you where you need to be in the future; missions tell you how to get there.

5. Equity

• There needs to be a balance of equity in an organization.
• Problems such as salaries or wages being perceived as inadequate can cause employees to feel they are not being treated fairly.
• Equity has meaning both emotionally and financially in organizations.
• When equity gets out of balance, this force will work to equalize this imbalance in ways that may not always be how the organization would want this to be resolved.
• There are few human emotions stronger than someone feeling that they are treated unfairly.

6. Performance

• Employees want to perform to the best of their ability – when they do not, it is likely the fault of the system.
• There are no limits to human performance.
• There are no limits to organizational performance.
• Performance must be rewarded if it is to be repeated.
• The competition forces you to perform at a higher level.
• Everyone needs to understand who the real competition is.

7. Discovery

• Humans are born with the need to discover.
• Without discovery, there can be no progress.
• Organizations often unwittingly extinguish discovery.
• Discovery needs to be nurtured.
• Discovery is influenced by time and place.
• Discovery often happens by accident.
• Discovery can be a function of politics.
• Discovery has its downside, especially for those invested in the past.
• Not everyone is always in favor of new discoveries.

8. Diversity

• Diversity is the common fabric of all living things.
• Everyone is different in some way.
• Diversity proves there is always more than one way or viewpoint.
• Organizations need to encourage diverse discussions and ideas.
• Diversity leads to better decisions.
• Diversity encourages the consideration of the needs of more people, including customers.

9. Growth

• Organizations need to grow. Otherwise, they stagnate and decline.
• Organizational growth is a natural force, but it must be managed.
• Growth should be a byproduct of knowledge and experience in organizations.
• Growth is often cyclical.
• It is not always obvious that growth is occurring.
• Growth doesn’t have to mean that the organization is getting bigger.
• You need to be careful to avoid reckless growth, which can bog down the entire organization, like an unprofitable acquisition or merger decision.

10. Renewal

• Renewal is the natural life cycle continuing.
• Renewal might come at the end of a cycle, but not always.
• Renewal, like change, can come at unexpected times.
• Renewal restarts the change cycle.
• Products and services have life cycles and need to eventually be renewed or make way for something new.
• Everything repeats itself in some manner if given enough time.

Tapping Into These Natural Forces

The best news about these natural forces is that they are a tremendous energy source that is essentially available to you for free by tapping into their power, and they are key to a successful business. The challenge is how to best harness all this energy to enable the organization to reach its future business success goals. Please plan on attending this important webinar to learn more about these natural forces.

May these forces be with you!