Young Organizations’ Souls

Young organizations normally have exceptionally dynamic, demanding, and fragile existences. Their strategic path can be off the mark, and they must endure zigs and zags in strategy as new insights about challenges and opportunities arise. Their financial base is often difficult to secure and subject to uncertainties and changes in funders’ support. Their efforts to gain traction in a desired marketplace or domain usually involve an uphill competitive struggle. Their progress is likely to look much different from what they and their backers had originally anticipated it would. Furthermore, because of the limits imposed on young organizations by thin staffing, if key employees leave, they can experience great stress and organizational dysfunction in their efforts to cover the human-resource gaps. Recruiting the right employees can be slow. Hiring mistakes can be made, resulting in potential setbacks. Understandings about goals, priorities, and desired approaches can evolve unaligned among the leadership group. The IT and administrative infrastructures are likely to be underdeveloped and only partially reliable. The list of potential pitfalls and vulnerabilities young organizations face goes on and on. Suffice it to say that operating in a young organization is tough work with highly unknowable future prospects.