The not for profit organizations throughout the world are
often characterized by grave inefficiencies. It is surprising that these
inefficiencies continue to persist over time given that these organisations
receive and disperse large amounts of funding every year. Last week I had the
honor of listening to Matt Zieger who is a leading executive at the Forbes
Fund. Several good questions emerged from his presentation including the challenge
faced by organizations working in the development sector of acquiring and
retaining good talent.
It was interesting to read the research published by the
California Review Magazine titled “Organizational Blue Prints for success in
high tech startups: Lessons from the tech industry” as it gave some answers to
the questions raised above. The research followed 200 tech startups and gives
excellent insights on what sort of organizations prosper and why. The article
mentions the importance of having a clear mission or value statement and other organization
building tools to the success of the company. It also emphasizes that the “origins
matter” and a company’s early organization-building activities might preordain
the startups destiny. Further, “change is disruptive” especially if the changes
are being made to things as fundamental as the values which serve as the
guiding post of a company. Research shows how changes in CEO’s and top
management often resulted in a change of the organizations blueprint which was
detrimental to the startup as it adversely affected employee turnover and
henceforth financial performance.
What made this reading interesting in the juxtaposition to Matt
Ziegers presentation was that it is important for an organization to be
committed to its purpose rather than its method. The article outlined how the
tech industry has to keep up with technological innovation and redevelop their
products to meet a constantly evolving market. However, if the organization is
focused on its value and mission it is more likely to succeed but the method
should be constantly revised to best meet the mission.
Similarly, Matt
Zieger’s presentation highlighted how the development sector is standing at a
cross road. On one hand we have conventional donor driven aid models where a
target area is decided, beneficiaries are selected and aid in the form of good
or services is delivered. This is often problematic due to several reasons
including sustainability, the “us and them” paradigm, and talent acquisition
amongst others. However, the new model
around social innovation is gaining a lot of traction especially amongst
millennials who are reportedly as a generation more conscious of their social
responsibility compared to the previous generation. While the mission is
similar between donor driven aid models and social innovation ventures, the
method is different. It is important for people in the sector to understand
that their commitment is to the purpose of serving people and be open to a
change in the method. The new way allowing social innovation is open to greater
creativity as it allows for home grown solutions and has been successful in
developing partnerships across the public/private sector and not for profits. Hence
I believe that this is an exciting time for the development sector and the next
few years will see a pivotal shift in how social good is achieved especially in
developing countries.
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