The Dying Behemoths!

The perfect org structure for my firm, my unit, my team or even the most basic form of organization "family" has been a debate for long. Most of the firms start small with minimal process, people and technology. As it grows in size the debate on company culture, startegy and roadmap takes its full form. In this blog i want to talk on one of the dillemas as heard of and discussed.
Biotech Firm:
-- Close friends get together in a huddle and raise the organization
-- Market is huge, R&D produces a chemical and it immediately finds the market
-- Marketing department feels that there is a better production which could earn better revenue, but R&D is powerful
-- there is lesser of what to do and what not to do discussion

Welcome to the world of extreme revenue focus, power reaching the hands of who knows to play it well.. But then the firm is too small and its growing.. competition is yet to creep in.. right or wrong money will come.. there is net net control on flowing in of revenue.. no one cares if with limited capability and size, more could come with less with better decision making..

Challenges that this will face:
-- Org will need process to put the right checks in place to focus and channelize energy in right direction
-- Experts shall have to play SME role and healthy friction between various departments will need to be created
-- Someone will have to watch competition, identify the strengths of the firm and start differentiating to sustain in long run
-- More and more people will need to share the vision of the firm to be enabled to take decision



Welcome to the world of perfect organization.. We all read about it right?? Then where does it fail?? Well, if you thought last point was last.. there you are.. a) Large organization do not share the simple vision like "making money and surviving".. b) People know how to run their own department, but they dont know what is it like to run the big jungle with so many diverse wild animals and ambitions because they were never empowered to go, kill or die..

There are few things which probably are key for an organization when it starts growing:
-- Vision dsnt change in business world, simple "Be among top 3 or die or diversify" -- thats one line vision of GE in a way..
-- Keep the business portfolio moving, know what will die and who will be the next star contributor.. INVEST in NEW, DIVEST from OLD.. Take a give and take approach, too much greed and emotional attachment to old is suicidal
-- Decision making and ownership should be embedded in DNA of a firm as thats the only way to survive the behemoth -- "You are the CEO of your sector and the firm" "You die if your department dies AND if my net value of firm dies"
-- No matter how much you codify, some people are core to business, they need to have resons to stick on and that has to be empowerment and ownership and not just money
-- Nourish the weaker child ( read new opportunties with future business) till it stands on its feet.. it will have to replace the older ones when they lose their feet

The organizations that stop growing are ones which get too emotional about returns, stop investing in newer opportunities and have a set of zillions of people who have never seen the real decision making in centuries spent in the organization .. In the end business is about survival, it will always be about that basic sacrifice you made on your minimal bank savings to set the foundations.. A growing firm is a set of smaller entrepreneurial sets which now run under one umbrella.. if you dont change, empower and invest you will die.. it was never meant to be constant and it always needed that "sacrifice" on your profits, that "risk taking" zeal you had to begin with..