Organizational Health: Part One

Lately I've been hearing about "politics" in several organizations and so I've been thinking and talking with others about organizational health. What is it that makes one organization "healthy" and another not? I have a great burden for the organizations around me that are not doing well. Often when one looks at a church, business, non-profit organization, school, etc. one can see that something is not quite right. Often we will blame certain individuals (usually the leaders). I like to think beyond individuals though. Sometimes it is the system itself that is sick.

Of course it is individuals who contribute to a bad system, but eventually in an unhealthy system all of the individuals will get "sick." Why? Because they enable the unhealthiness to continue. Then they react negatively to all the unhealthiness around them in unhealthy ways. Here's my take on what often happens:

1. Someone in the organization starts doing something that hurts others, is unhealthy, or is contrary to the mission of the organization. Unaddressed, the problem becomes the elephant in the room.
2. Instead of bravely speaking the truth in love to that person (not letting them get away with it/giving them the opportunity to change), others "hope it will just get better" but it doesn't. Or if feedback is shared, it is too subtle and is misunderstood. People get more and more upset.
3. Eventually gossip begins. Because no one takes action, the temptation to gossip becomes impossible to deny. Gossip is one of the absolute worst things that any organization can do to harm itself. Gossip kills unity and creates ten times more problems then the original ones! Once widespread gossip exists, the organization is officially "sick." If the problem person/persons is not a leader and the leader doesn't intervene to fix things, the leader is gossiped about and any remaining team morale is destroyed. If the leader is the one doing wrong, usually the rest of the group is afraid to confront and things are about to reach the boiling point.
4. Eventually things blow up; people will leave the organization, instigate rebellion against leadership, or the organization falls apart.
5. Everyone blames everyone else (we want a scapegoat, right?). Everyone is hurt. The mission of the organization remains unfulfilled. The reputation of the organization is damaged.

Ever seen something similar to what I've described? What happened? In Part 2 of this series I will share my ideas about how to keep your organization healthy and what to do if "sickness" invades an organization (and how to help it).

May Light increase!