🌟 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 "𝗢𝗗 ≠" 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 🌟

Our goal was 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑦, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦, what OD is, and what it is not. At 138 thousand impressions and 275 reposts, the message resonated. 😉

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝗗 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲? 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠!

🙅‍♂️ Too many organizations focus on growth before ensuring that their OD strategy is in place to support this growth.

This includes growth before OD strategy, resources, organizational design, processes, priorities, timelines, etc.

👉 The results: failed execution, declining job satisfaction, poor employee engagement, unsustainable work conditions, lack of career development, opportunity costs, hard costs, burnout, and attrition.

A recent McKinsey study stated that 𝟯𝟴% 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!

Organizations prioritize growth strategy over OD strategy for several reasons:

▪ 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Growth is often seen as essential for survival and competitiveness. Organizations prioritize strategies that can increase revenue, market share, and profitability in the short term, leading to a focus on expansion without considering the capabilities and structures needed to support that growth.

▪ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Shareholders, investors, and other stakeholders often prioritize growth metrics such as revenue growth, market share, and profitability. Organizations may feel pressure to satisfy these stakeholders, sometimes at the expense of developing the internal capacity to sustain that growth.

▪ 𝗟𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Organizations may lack a clear long-term vision or strategic plan integrating growth and OD. Without a comprehensive strategy, they may default to pursuing growth as a primary objective without considering the underlying organizational capabilities needed to support it.

▪ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗮𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘁𝘆: Leadership biases or naivety can influence strategic priorities. Leaders focused on external factors such as market opportunities or competitive pressures may overlook the importance of internal OD needs until issues arise that hinder growth.

▪ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗗: Building and strengthening organizational capabilities through OD initiatives can be complex and time-consuming. It requires investment in areas like talent development, culture change, process improvement, and organizational structure. Organizations may defer these efforts in favor of more tangible and immediate growth initiatives.

Our next series will focus on OD success stories that deliver predictable and sustainable growth within thriving workplace cultures.