"Find a job that you like, and you will not work one more day of your life."
As I always say, companies are complex systems that depend on an infinity of variables (market in which it develops, legal form, culture of the founders, vision, values, etc…), so it is very difficult to generalize in terms of what behaviors and strategies are appropriate. The same problem is solved in each organization in a different way and generally with good results in all of them.
But all, as they grow, go through stages of evolution that are very similar in most. Just as people go through childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age, and in each of these stages they behave and think differently, and each one arrives at different times, the same happens with organizations, with the only difference that Businesses, if run in the right way, can transform and grow.
It is then the founder who has to adapt his driving style as the organization grows.
A natural evolution from entrepreneur to businessman must occur in the manager.
Until now I have not found, despite having worked with a large number of companies, founders who have been able to go through this change without help, and those who did it were as a consequence of having been pushed by the next generation. And absolutely all of them resist this evolution.
It should be clarified that, normally, those who are capable of transforming themselves do not call an external consultant since they do not face major problems, hence, probably, my lack of contact with these entrepreneurs.
Why do you have to transform?
At each stage, along with organizational changes, the leadership and culture of the company must evolve, and these may be sought after objectives or emerging behaviors as a consequence of the crisis, and, many times, both., where the changes influence the crisis and it is this that produces the changes.
When the company is born, one or more people start an activity to manufacture a product or provide a service.
This first stage, regardless of whether the company has resources or not, the founder is THE PROPHET, with a high dose of Vision and Action, he is the one who breaks the mold, the one that pushes the company forward. Being accompanied by a group, generally small, of highly motivated collaborators solves all the problems that appear. Everything is new, the energy level is very high. This stage is also known as CREATIVE CHAOS.
Strict control is not necessary because the company is small and easy to manage.
At this stage the founder is normally part of the operational wheel (buy, produce, sell, deliver, collect, pay) in almost all its stages. He is the typical entrepreneur.
As the company grows, people are incorporated who, at first, easily adapt to the rest. Because as those who are already arriving can instill in them the Vision and spread enthusiasm.
The problems appear: The number of people increases, and the new ones do not receive the communication because they are all very busy. These begin to work without a global Vision, but with a lot of energy and then a ROUTINE subculture is generated, these new ones cannot solve many of the problems that arise. There's no time to think. The Manager has to take care of everything, he cannot delegate, a little because he does not know how and a little because the staff, who do not have the Vision, do not solve anything without asking.
The feeling that controls are missing begins, the information generated is not enough, everything depends on the Manager, who, logically, cannot be in everything.
Then sales start to decline, or the organization's climate is tense, or there is not enough data to make decisions or nobody takes care of the problems that appear, everything has to be solved by the founder. Everyone works to the limit of stress.
They are those companies that, without a strategic vision, spend their days solving problems. They do not program or have objectives.
The biggest drawback is that these organizations can survive like this for years, so they think they don't need to change.
The entrepreneur feels that if he does not control, it is not well done, then what he cannot control or do personally is not done. Paradoxically, he himself boycotts the growth of the company, it is his own brake, precisely because he has that characteristic of being such an ENTREPRENEUR.
That is when you should become an ENTERPRISE.
This is achieved by generating new work habits, a new way of looking at the company.
Becoming an entrepreneur is that type of knowledge or skill that the only way to learn is by doing it, by exercising it.
Like the ability to ride a bicycle, it cannot be incorporated theoretically.
You must walk the path of acquiring new knowledge and skills step by step.
This path has four stages:
- The state of unconscious incapacity: When I don't know I don't know. The Entrepreneur does not know what it is to be an entrepreneur, moreover, he believes that running a company is doing what he does. The next stage is: The state of conscious disability: When I perceive that I do not know. The Entrepreneur discovers that he must do things differently if he wants to grow and stop continually solving problems. It begins to train and change habits, to unlearn, and then it goes to the other stage. The state of conscious capacity: When I perceive that I know. The new Entrepreneur thinks before acting, he must concentrate on what he is doing to put aside old habits, old ways of acting and thinking. And, from so much working in this way, it happens to: The state of unconscious capacity: When I know that I know.You no longer have to think or concentrate to act in a certain way, it is almost an instinct, it is no longer accepted to do things differently.
It's like driving a car, I don't have to think to do it.
It is the state of knowledge and mastery of skill.
The differences between the Entrepreneur and the Entrepreneur
I want to clarify that this does not mean that one is good and the other bad, that one is the correct way of acting or thinking and the other is not. What should be clear is that they are not synonymous, that each one is important and must appear in different growth stages of the company.
- The entrepreneur works a lot The entrepreneur thinks and elaborates a lot The entrepreneur does things himself or controls them personally The entrepreneur delegates and controls results The entrepreneur is very good at solving problems The entrepreneur is very good at defining strategies and objectives, anticipates problems Entrepreneur controls that his people are working all day The employer measures the results of his people's work The entrepreneur does many things The employer generates a lot of value The entrepreneur surrounds himself with hard-working and submissive people, does not have time to argue. The entrepreneur surrounds himself with capable people, each decision is thoroughly debated. The entrepreneur controls the functioning of the operational wheel of the company. The entrepreneur is watching the company, the market changes and the evolution of the environment.The entrepreneur rewards the effort The entrepreneur rewards the results The entrepreneur knows the machines of his company The businessman knows the numbers of his company The entrepreneur is essential when creating a company and starting it up The entrepreneur is essential to make the company grow once began to roll.
When those roles are reversed at each stage the result is failure or lack of growth.
