Building Successful Organizations that Endure Discussion

Please provide at least 150-word response to each student response below to continue conversation and provide new information/content. Be sure to research/cite/reference sources in each discussion.

1st Post: Excellence is fragile” (Vanourek & Vanourek, 2012, kindle location 2398). When either the leader or the company runs out of steam, poor decision making based on bad emotional/social intelligence can severely limit sustainability. Beginning next week, I will be taking an interim position (six-month appointment) as a dean for a school in a college which is starting to lose the battle of endurance. As a leader just coming off seven months of retirement, I feel rested and ready for this challenge, but I am worried about the condition of the faculty. Are they burnt out? Mentally fatigued? It is my hope to use the principles in our textbook to reignite the group, reinstate the company culture to one of success and pride in the organization, reinspire loyalty in the company colors, revisit the mission remembering why it was meaningful, revisit the vision of what continued/further success looks like, and reembrace the shared values important to all stakeholders not just faculty. 

As I enter unfamiliar territory, it is important I internalize what I have learned so far in this class about the importance of alignment in building effective teams. Teams are built on trust. Each term member is important and has a right to be heard regardless of the position they hold. Effective teams contribute to excellence and excellence (with the proper care) underpins endurance. It is also important to look at the long run instead of any short-term wins which may be accomplished within the next six months. Our textbook authors warned of entities such as Calumet Farms, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota being unable to maintain their triple crown status. It is essential that all three of the E’s: ethics, excellence, and endurance are in place without one taking precedence over the others.

2nd Post: Enduring difficult times can be challenging to deal with mentally, emotionally, and physically. What one may feel, or experience will vary by individual. As Vanourek & Vanourek (2012) stated, it is about how we as individuals or organizations get through them. Moreover, preparedness as much as possible is vital to understand that perspective. One of the steps leaders can take to be prepared is creating a space for individuals to process and cope that benefits them (Reinhard, 2023). Whether that be allowing self-care time, information on resources for employees, or being open about their options, it can be impactful. When an environment encompasses taking care of yourself and others and having the tools and resources to do so, communicating those steps can be vital.

Having a checklist of tasks to follow in difficult times can also be beneficial (Reinhard, 2023). The task list would be tailored towards the organization but would allow for sequential steps to be followed if necessary. Some components of a checklist could include checking in, clarifying decision-makers, communicating, allocating and delegating tasks, keeping notes, and asking for help (Reinhard, 2023). Because difficult times can look different per individual, can be personal or job-related, and can happen at any given moment, organizations should be prepared. 

One of the many ways to teach an organization to demonstrate more significant levels of endurance is to be prepared and ensure that the goals and objectives are realistic. This could be done in training or during a staff meeting.  Another way is to be good stewards, set positive examples, and communicate openly (Vanourek & Vanourek, 2012). During the pandemic, my organization had weekly check-ins via Zoom among all of us in our division. Not only were we able to see how everyone was doing, but it also allowed us to speak on the difficult times many were having personally and professionally. The zone was completely judgment-free, and resources were provided after every meeting. It reminded me that self-awareness and open communication lines are necessary, creating connections among us all. We were all in different areas of the division, working virtually toward student success. The organization did a great job navigating the many trials of the pandemic but also ensuring that each employee was doing okay. 

I acknowledge that my example is not always the case. I work in residence life, and the pandemic was a rough point for all of us personally and professionally. Organizations must find what works best for them. Being prepared, having discussions, asking for feedback amongst team members, presenting and communicating plans, and assessing practices can allow for the demonstration of greater levels of endurance to occur. 

3rd Post:  There is endurance, but there is also resilience. Resiliency is imperative in organizations because it can allow for adaptability and empower teams to bounce back from situations when they occur. 

 Failure is bound to happen within any organization, and what that looks like depends on the circumstances surrounding it (Edmonson, 2011). It is possible to learn from failure, and if there are contingency plans in place, it can allow an organization to respond to the issue or an issue in the future. From a personal perspective, my organization has various contingency plans for potential problems. Due to the nature of my work, an incident command team of institutional leadership meets, assesses, and adjusts plans if needed. Another way an organization can be prepared is to create a learning culture (Edmonson, 2011). Opportunities to learn from mistakes or an environment that makes an individual feel comfortable to report errors or failures can allow for reflection and growth (Edmonson, 2011). The approaches that organizations have to note failures are imperative because there needs to be an environment to do so to ensure individuals feel comfortable, thus causing an impact on the productivity and sustainability of the organization. 

Organizations can learn to be resilient and overcome failures in various ways. The first way is reflection. Reflecting on the incident that occurred and having an understanding of what can be done the next time differently. Another way is to lead by example. Organizations should be open about past experiences with failure and what steps have been implemented since (Arcand, 2023).  “failure should be explored and seen as an opportunity for everyone to learn and benefit (Macintosh, 2016, para. 10).” Being open about them can allow for team members to reach out when failures are about to happen or when they do occur. 

It's easy from the outside looking in to say that an organization should have done this or did that, but each organization is different with the processes they have in place. Failure happens, and even the most prominent CEOs have endured it at some point. It's all about how individuals and organizations bounce back from them that makes the difference. 

 

4th Post: Organizational resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, address, and adapt to incremental change and disruptions to survive and prosper. The organizational resilience tension quadrant consists of four sectors: 1) Preventative control – defensive consistency, monitoring, and complying; 2) Mindful action – defensive flexibility, noticing, and responding; 3) Performance optimization – progressive consistency, improving, and exploiting; and 4) Adaptive innovation – progressive flexibility, imagining, and creating (Denyer, 2017).

The triple crown principles, shared purpose, value, and vision coupled with active stewardship monitoring leading indicators can help avert or mitigate early warning signs. A constructive culture, transparency, accountability, and leadership that demonstrates effective leadership traits will help an organization to endure ethically. When the leaders start shifting from the 3 Es and fail to be good stewards, the culture will start shifting, and too much emphasis will be placed on short-term profits, irresponsible cost-cutting, layoffs, and dramatic leaning of the organizational structure (Vanourek & Vanourek, 2012). 

There is a long list of organizations that became leaders in their field and through short-sightedness started a precipitous decline and, in many cases, caused the business to shut down. Failure to address leading and lagging indicators, unscrupulous actions by executives, toxic cultures, and abandonment of their credo lead to their demise or a considerable loss of market share. Johnson and Johnson have had over 50 recalls in a fifteen-year period. Toyota has had to recall millions of vehicles due to mechanical, software, and supplier quality control issues (Vanourek & Vanourek, 2012).