The Authentic Organization

Whether it’s to avoid conflict, preserve cultural bulwarks, protect power relations, or prevent disappointment, organizations often end up with a set of forbidden questions.
Some generic examples include: Why are things done this way? Who really makes these decisions? How much is enough? Who gets rewarded for what? How is status conferred? Who controls what [...]

Just as a biological species might survive for years in very small numbers on an island or other isolated ecosystem before expanding into new environments, one of the ways in which authenticity will eventually flourish in organizations is because, in many cases, it is preserved and experienced in smaller contexts.
Perhaps the smaller context is [...]

The Action-Learning model is a four part cycle that’s fairly representative of the various models that try to describe the process that an organization goes through over time, as it learns from what it does. Different practitioners use different words to describe the cycle, but this is a fair example:
Do -> Observe -> Reflect -> [...]

There is another end to the Letting Go theme, one that is much more familiar to organizational consultants of all stripes. Whereas newborn ideas have one set of dynamics, the question of Founder’s Syndrome and transitions in leadership once an idea has become an organization have another dynamic altogether. Much has been written on [...]

How long to hold on to an idea is a wonderfully tricky question. I can’t help but write in fairly personal terms about it.
Early on in the life of an idea, my own preference is to give it room to grow. That means I will expose the idea to supportive criticism, but not to a [...]

With a working definition at hand, I want to spend a couple of days looking at real world examples submitted by my readers and collaborators, both here and at Nonprofit Online News. My objectives for this include (1) identifying core concepts upon which I should expand, (2) grounding this conversation in real world case studies, [...]

In a thoughtful comment about the focus of my work here, Tricia Maddrey Baker writes:
I am still very confused about your definition of “authentic.” At times, you seem to be referring to appropriate, transparent, legal, responsible spending of funds. Other times, you seem to be talking about focus to the mission and vision of the [...]

In a long, encouraging comment, Larry Hanawalt writes:
Making peace with time means that I am generating/creating/envisioning a future that gives me power in the present, and that I am whole and complete with the past. I am free. (and much more)
I’m delighted by the fact that you frame this, both here and in the rest [...]

In describing a long road taken to getting a vision off the ground, Dave Allburn writes:
Along the way a ’scarcity-culture’ has set-in. Do we use up the funds bailing the boat, try to set-sail, or both? Seth Godin would advise scuttling the boat and renting a jet. It’s hard. The founder is a sailor, not [...]

In the context of his startup organization, Mat Emery writes:
I’m looking to embed the DNA for a sustainable, authentic social enterprise.
I’m a biologist by training, so your metaphor works well for me. As I work my way through the earlier topics and get to the core question of how we might do things differently, when [...]