Growing Up But Staying Young

Growing outfits often put in systems that kill the spirit that made them successful. The leap from startup to going concern is one of the trickiest transitions in an organization's life, and if left to chance, it can make a company come unglued. The problem is that many startups, while installing processes and systems to organize their burgeoning bigness, accidentally kill the spirit and energy that made them so successful when they were small. That's why your overriding goal right now must be to help your company grow up and still stay young at heart. Begin by going back to the basics: mission and values. When you were starting out, everyone probably worked together, and people could feel in their bones where you were going and what behaviors were expected of them to get there. But as hires have poured in and operations have dispersed, your mission and values have probably become somewhat fuzzy. That's trouble waiting to happen. Stop it by talking about them ad nauseam, always remembering that most people haven't lived them the way you have. Your next step is to establish an operating system and rhythm since you've probably gotten along so far using ad hoc forms of budgeting and planning.