Dinosaur-Size Business: The Evolutionary Path of Organizational Development

 It’s been awhile… I hope everyone is having a fantastic 2009 so far. With the current global economic situation, I think we would all do well to think more in terms of transformation and aspirations rather than automatically reverting to a “doom and gloom” attitude. The latter is much too easy to do, and certainly does nothing to change the circumstances or create developmental dynamics that lead to those “better days ahead.” (By now, we should have all learned that our individual and collective mentalities are more than half the battle!)

So, as I’ve had plenty of time to mull over ideas – both old and new – to help me get back in full-swing, I’ve created somewhat of a storehouse of potential blog posts. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but see the obvious metaphor in a recent article from Slate entitled “A Snake the Size of a Plane: How Did Prehistoric Animals Get So Big?”

In the article, writer Nina Shen Rastogi noted that prehistoric animals grew to enormous sizes – such as the massive boa, which was the size of a Volkswagon Beetle, and asked why we do not see those type of massive animals in our day? The following is a list of the reasons, along with the obvious analogy to organizational evolutionary dynamics, especially in these times of volatile change:

1. They simply had a long-time to develop into the behemoths that they were.

And the same has been true of many of the massive corporations and businesses that we see moving toward extinction today. In this climate of volatile change and upheaval, organizations no longer have the luxury of time on their side in terms of slow development and growth. Now, smaller businesses that are strong in terms of innovation and creative transformation have an evolutionary advantage, and businesses that are stuck in the rut of traditional models and thinking will find themselves no longer able to survive in the era of reframing, restructuring, and rethinking. 

2. Larger size could have been an evolutionary advantage.

Rastogi noted that the larger animals could have been less vulnerable to predators and were better suited to compete for resources. However, this can also be their undoing: when the resources are depleted (sound familiar?), then these giant creatures are the first to go. Likewise, the predators begin to slowly adapt to hunting techniques against these behemoths, and then their bulky frame and size becomes a “giant” liability. I’m sure you get the metaphor, so I’ll leave it at that.

3. In-between long periods of growth, the earth saw large-scale extinction events, and only the adaptive survive during these times.

Larger animals are less able to cope during times of upheaval and crisis, and so they are the first to become extinct. However, smaller animals are better able to adapt to the change, and they become the inhabitants of the new landscape. Smaller animals have even created the evolutionary ability to reproduce more rapidly, and so they take over the territory that was once the domain of the larger beasts. Likewise, change-oriented, flexible, adaptive, and transformational businesses can survive an extinction event (such as the one we are all experiencing presently), but such an environment and culture does not allow for the former masters to retain their place of prominence. 

In light of this evolutionary path of birth, growth, death, and transformation, it behooves us all – no matter what domain we inhabit – to think about these issues in order to not only survive, but to move forward in an advantageous and productive fashion:

• We need to recognize when “Creative Destruction” is taking place, and react accordingly. What are the breakpoints, the breakdowns, and the breakthroughs in our domain? What changes are happening, and how should we think , act, and reframe to prosper in the “new age.”
• What other discontinuous events might take place that could cause us to become “extinct?” In terms of the present economic crisis, how can we react transformationally in order to turn “disaster” into “preferable futures.” Where exactly is the extinction event leading, what new landscapes will be created, and what further troubles can we anticipate before the event is “over?”
• What will the “new species” that rule the post-extinction landscape going to look like, act like, feel like? What will they think about technological advancement, and how will they utilize it? What will they do in terms of human and environmental resiliency, and how will this benefit economic systems?
• What will the “ruling culture” of the “new era” look and sound like? What is your present organizational culture, and can it fit into (or is it ready to adapt to) the emerging climate of the “new age?”
• What type of leadership will be required for the environment of the new era of business, organizational development, tech development, human emergence, social entrepreneurship, and driver advantage? If the top-heavy leaders are becoming extinct, what emerging model will lead us into new and transformational landscapes that require greater collaborative participation an open source environments?