Same Water, Different Challenge

A letter to leaders of purpose-driven, small or scaling organisations

1. Your challenges are likely different from what the mainstream business and organisational psychology and development books and articles say as they are often based on research in larger, for-profit organisations.

2. Your people are different from those working in large, relatively stable organisations and they experience pressures, stress, motivation and connection differently and they need different skills and behaviours to thrive.

3. Your journey and evolution as an organisation will be different from those written about now because your current context at this stage of your growth is different from their context when they were at this stage.

Everything we can learn about other, different organisations is helpful and an information resource.

BUT... and it is a big but...... you have to take what you know about others and think about how it is relevant to your people and your organisation.

For example, as organisations and your workforce grow in number, team members likely experience a change in the depth and quality of their relationships with colleagues. The status they experience as someone "who was there from the beginning" or someone who "has been brought in with skills we really need" will change over time and that can be challenging to navigate.