General notice, we have added to our research staff and their role includes the maintenance of this blog. Its purpose to share with you our research and insights to help the entrepreneur/business owner acquire the information necessary for success. The following is a series of analysis of Ichak Adizes's work on business lifecycles. The reference for the book is listed in our books section. I would highly recommend you review his work.

Prologue
All living creatures experience growth and decline, an arching curve that begins with growth and ends with death. organizations can violate these natural laws, decline and death are not preordained. The issue is to manage the organizations lifecycle, to take it to prime (an optimized state) and keep it there.

This is not consulting, it is organizational therapy, taking companies from $12m to $800m in 10 years, another from $400m to $4b in 7 years.

Organizations at Prime passionately nurture both their expansive, creative energy, and their need for structure and discipline. The management of this dynamic is the hallmark of successful companies.

Organizational Vitality and the Nature of Problems
Problems come with change, change is a necessary characteristic of growth - peak performance cannot be achieved without changing. But there are problems and then there are problems - some beckon, others threaten. Normal problems come with change, some problems you don't want - the distinction between normal and abnormal problems.

Normal problems of organizations are those that occur at specific phases of predictable change; abnormal problems occur unpredictably or at the wrong time.

In a company beset with too many problems, normal or abnormal, it is common to default - to try and slow it down. "Lets slow down" change because we cannot handle our problems. Only the dead have no problems, slowing the rate of change means slowing down life - protracted suicide.

It is about anticipating ever accelerating change and speeding up solutions to the challenges. It is having the ability to anticipate future problems now and gain the advantage by accelerating advances.

Having the Right Problems?

Managers must make sure their organizations focus on gaining optimal control and flexibility based upon on the stage of development. Abnormal problems aren't abnormal from the start, they are extensions of normal problems that were handled incorrectly, treated too late, or ignored. When they loom - management is overwhelmed. Abnormal problems consistently reappear and in more virulent forms. It turns into a chronic threat to the life of the organization.

Leaders who cannot handle normal problems should seek professional help before the it becomes abnormal. Too many entrepreneurs/business owners believe they can handle it - they can treat any problem. Beware of over self confidence because it breeds arrogance driving the odds higher that normal problems will become life threatening.If you could have handled this problem - you would have! By definition reoccuring problems were not solved the last time it was acted on.