Evolution

As mission-driven organizations grow and evolve, the systems that served them in earlier stages often fail to scale alongside their aspirations – creating widening gaps between what they say, and what they do.

This is usually just due to the fact that smaller organizations don’t have the capacity or the in-house expertise to focus deeply on designing their internal operations. It makes sense – most of their bandwidth will rightly be spent on their core service, product, or external mission because that’s how and why they exist.

And this usually works fine for a while, but there will come a point when things start to slip, and everything just feels harder than it should. 

Maybe you don’t immediately recognize all that’s converging but you notice a series of challenges  – employee engagement issues, marketing that no longer resonates, inefficient and difficult decision making, declining revenue, or a general sense of stagnation.

I think of this as a signal that it's time for “maturing.” 

It’s not about growth for growth’s sake – it’s just that your systems, processes, and strategies need to be recalibrated to fit the stage you’re in. You’ve reached that inevitable “what got you here, won’t get you there” place.

For purpose-driven organizations, this phase can also bring along a deadly side effect: misalignment between your external mission and values vs. how the org is operating internally. 

And this misalignment creates more vulnerability than people typically realize – it breeds employee cynicism, erodes trust with stakeholders, weakens market positioning, and ultimately threatens the organization's resilience.

The organizations that thrive long-term are those that proactively design their operational ecosystem – their culture, impact strategy, and marketing strategy – with as much care as they design their products or services. 

This isn't just good practice – it's good business!

I am hellbent in my belief that the best and most resilient organizations – the ones that will persist through our constantly evolving storm of challenges and volatility – are those that are brave enough to double down on being bold, living their values, making the future they want to see, and speaking their truth.