When I work with clients on strategic planning or launching new initiatives, I’ve noticed a common tension between two types of thinkers:
There are the process-oriented folks, who want to create the optimal system before doing anything else. They often fear taking flight before they’re certain that the equipment will work without a hitch.
And then there are the mission-oriented people who are eager to get moving. When there is too much focus on process, they get bored, frustrated, and disengaged because “we’re not going anywhere.”
The reality is that organizations need to work on process and mission at the same time.
Challenging? Of course it is.
But once you get comfortable building the airplane midflight, your organization will be more effective and more sustainable.
In this post, I’ll describe how and why this is the case.
Lessons from my Berlin apartment
Two years ago, my family and I had the opportunity to spend a full year in Berlin, Germany. We rented a furnished apartment, but it quickly became apparent that no one had truly lived there for any sustained period.
There were beds to sleep in, but no curtains to block out the 5:00 AM sunrise.
The cupboards contained two dozen (!) wine glasses, but only two coffee mugs.
The kitchen was stuffed with appliances, but lacked counter space to prepare food.
In short, the “furnished” apartment was set up in a way that didn’t meet the practical needs of the occupants.
Within days of moving in, we went to the nearby IKEA to purchase a few essentials. The rest of the apartment setup process was more gradual. Why? We wanted to spend time living there so that we could avoid unnecessary purchases and figure out how to set up our temporary home to meet our needs.
In an ideal world, the apartment would have had everything we needed on Day 1. But because it was incomplete, we were able to turn the place into a home that better suited our family’s lifestyle.
The lesson? You can’t design the perfect system from the outside. You have to live in it.
Two kinds of work, one organization
Building and sustaining an effective organization is a lot like setting up a new home: once you have the bare essentials—a mission, some people, and hopefully some money—you can begin to take action. And by doing the work, it often becomes quite clear what other systems you need to be even more effective.
When working with clients, I aim to help them balance two types of work:
Building the airplane: Making sure that you have the people, the funding, and the infrastructure to keep everything running smoothly. This category includes active board governance (if you’re a nonprofit), robust communication systems, transparent budgets, and clear processes.
Taking flight: Serving your mission by helping your stakeholders, clients, and constituents—the reason your organization exists in the first place.
Perhaps because organizational leadership tends to draw a lot of systems thinkers, I’ve found that many leaders want to complete the first step before moving to the second.
But here’s what I’ve learned: the best planes are built in response to actual flight conditions.
When both sides are in balance, the magic happens. Your systems evolve to support your actual work rather than theoretical work. Your mission work becomes more effective because you’re continuously improving how you operate.
Bonus: By offering opportunities that appeal to both process- and action-oriented people, you’ll engage a wider variety of people who can contribute to your organization’s growth and sustainability.
In my next post, I’ll provide some concrete tips and examples for how to build and fly at the same time.