"We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are."
~Max Depree, American author
Tori is a wonderful young lady, exactly the girl I would want my own daughter to be if I had a daughter of my own. I am blessed to have the chance to co-parent her and be a part of her development.
One great thing about Tori is her sense of responsibility. Another is her willingness to change as she grows and learns.
A case in point is how she has been learning to participate in common family tasks. You know the ones I mean – things like clearing the table after dinner. We used to have to define specific roles:
“Tori, you take the plates; Mom will take the serving dishes; I’ll put away the leftovers.”
But she is gradually learning that things get done best when everyone sees what still needs to be done and does it. As a family, we are beginning to function like an effective team. One of us collects all the plates and silverware they can carry, someone else grabs the glasses, someone else puts away leftovers, etc., each of us making trips to and from the kitchen until the job is done.
Of course we each know our capabilities and limitations, and we do have loosely defined roles, but we get the job done without rigid job descriptions. And we do it very, very well. (OK, I’m slightly exaggerating– we’re getting there, but there’s still road to travel).
The first time I realized Tori was really learning this was a few weeks ago: We thought we were done, but Tori noticed a crumpled up paper napkin that had been left behind. She threw it away without being told.
As parents, we call this “maturity.” A number of different words have been applied to the same quality in business: Teamwork, Agility, Adaptability, and Instinctiveness are perhaps the most common. But what’s wrong with the phrase “corporate maturity?” I think it has a nice ring.
As I write this, I’m thinking of a company where I once served, which I’ll call “Acme Widgets” (I know, that really lacks creativity. Sorry).
AW was 40 years old. We expect people of roughly the same age to have a certain amount of personal maturity. We expect them to be on some sort of career path, to have grown intellectually, to have developed responsible personality traits, etc.
AW certainly had a mature career path: They were a market leader! AW was intellectually mature, too: They were innovative. And AW was mature in responsibility: They functioned by clearly defined values, were financially responsible, made quality products, and would go to all ends to ship orders on the promised ship date.
This outstanding company, like so many others, had one glaring maturity flaw that could prove detrimental to them down the line: They did not change easily, that is, they did not learn well while they grew. They were not internally adaptable.
“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”
~Henri Bergson (1859-1941), French philosopher
There are a few questions I like to ask employees that help more clearly assess a company’s adaptability. Here are a few. Take a moment and answer them for yourself:
- In your own job, how likely are you to recognize when what you do needs to change, i.e., that your job needs to evolve because of external changes?
- How likely are you to recognize when how you do things needs to change to accommodate your evolving responsibilities?
- Do you feel free to communicate needed changes to your supervisor or manager? (
- Do you feel your observations and suggestions will be truly considered?
- Do you openly make such suggestions to your supervisor?
- Do you feel free to make changes yourself?
Finally, here’s a tough one for many people:
- How likely are you to do something just because it needs done, regardless of job titles and without complaint or resentment? Are you more likely to throw away the paper napkins because no one has done it yet, or are you more likely to complain that the Paper Napkin Tosser didn’t do his or her job?
21st Century businesses are going through rapid, exciting changes. I trust yours is one of them. Next year will most certainly look different than this year, and each successive year will bring more change and growth potential.
Do your answers to the above suggest that you are ready to embrace the changes?
“Maturity of mind is the capacity to endure uncertainty.”
~John Finley, English historian and mathematician
If you have insights or questions on this, please start a dialog in the comments section below and I will reply.
If you’d like to know more about how to develop a mature, adaptive culture in your organization, Contact Me.
One of my professional specialties is assessing corporate cultures, diagnosing business problems based on cultural indicators, and aligning cultures to support strategic priorities.
A culture of Territorialism tells Jane that if she steps outside her defined role, she’ll be invading someone else’s turf and she’ll be punished for it. Rather than face that risk, Jane will just go on being bored and less productive than she otherwise would be. In fact, she may not allow herself to be bored at all -- if she's resourceful she's more likely to do personal emails, write her own blog, spruce up her MySpace account, plan her next house, or research a topic she's interested in all on your company's dime. Wouldn't you rather pay her to put that energy into your company's success?