Every organization goes through life cycles.  These cycles can be natural or forced, but healthy organizations recognize them and adapt to them for continued health and growth.  The descriptions of each stage have huge overlap. Some things I have listed in one stage can easily happen in the previous or next stage. I am using standard organizational management terms and using Grace Community Church as my model. We will be four years old in September.

Birth – This founding period usually involves a few people with a big vision.  This is the initial stage where a lot of learning that takes place and the organization begins to develop leaders fast.  Basically everyone on the team at this point has the potential to become a leader in some area. This is often done through on-the-job training.   We launched Grace with three staff members, our wives, and 11 couples who were excited about a new church plant.  Each member of our team was forced to lead areas outside their comfort level, but we gained some of our best leaders today that way and several people found a passion they did not know they had.  With the rapid growth we experienced at our start this stage lasted only about six months.

Childhood – A deepening and maturity process begins at this stage, but the organization still has few policies and procedures in place and everything is still fun.  New leadership develops and responsibilities spread to new people within the organization. Mistakes are still likely as the organization figures out its identity. The DNA of the organization begins to form.  The organization begins to recognize its need for more structure.  This was a fun stage and time for Grace and lasted about three years.

Adolescence – Greater levels of responsibility are handed out to more people and the weight of responsibility spreads within the organization. The organization has had some success at this point and so it begins to take new risks and dream new and bigger dreams.  This is a continued growth time and usually full of high energy. If the organization is not careful some of the initial leaders of the organization can begin to experience burnout. Structure becomes necessary at this point and the organization begins to think about maintenance. Grace Community Church began entering this stage as a church about at our third anniversary and especially during the last six months.  We have been forced to “grow up” and add more structure to our operation.

Maturity – At this stage the organization has many experiences of success and some failure and must begin to think through continued growth and health as an organization.  The organization needs constant renewal and regeneration to remain current and viable.  Leadership has been developed, but the organization begins to plan out succession of leaders.  The structure of the organization is usually well established by this point, but must remain flexible enough to adapt to changes outside the organization.  At some point Grace will enter this stage.  All organizations do. The goal will need to be that we continue to breathe new life into the church.  A lot of churches reach this stage and cease to change and grow, often steeped in their own traditions.

Renewal – This stage almost always has to be forced on an organization, either by leadership or for survival purposes, but must occur or the organization will eventually die or cease to be viable.   This does not mean the organization must leave its vision, traditions, or culture, but it must consider new ways of realizing its potential.  Some will say renewal comes at each stage of the organization’s life cycle and that may be true, but I contend there is a definite stage in a healthy life cycle where an organization improves and almost reinvents itself to continue to experience health and growth.  My prayer for the leadership of Grace Community Church is that we will always be willing to examine ourselves as church and make changes as necessary to insure that we remain vibrant, healthy and growing.

Another thing to remember is that the speed of an organization’s growth can cause life cycles to become much quicker.  Consider the child who has to face adult decisions early in life and is forced to “grow up fast”.  A similar thing happens to organizations.

What would you add as occurrences within each life cycle?  Have you seen this in your organization?

Related posts:

1. The Value of Unstructured Growth/When Growth Outpaces Structure
2. Tortoise and The Hare Principle of Organizational Growth
3. 3 Activities Every Organization Must Have For Success
4. Altering My Personal Leadership Style
5. Planning for Sustainment Within an Organization