For over 23 years, Performance Dashboard has been unlocking the secrets to what makes organizations thrive…or crumble. What’s the secret to staying ahead in an ever-changing world? It’s more than innovation—it’s about building strength from within. Through decades of implementing the Organizational Effectiveness Survey (OES)℠, we’ve discovered powerful truths about culture, leadership, and the critical signals leaders often overlook. But what’s the biggest risk to any organization? It might not be what you think. Let’s dive in.
The Life Cycle of Organizations
Like living beings, organizations have life cycles. Organizations progress through natural phases—birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age, and eventually, death. This analogy underscores a profound reality: organizations, like people, are not immortal. They’re shaped by their internal health, external environment, and the decisions made by those at the helm.
What’s concerning, however, is how quickly organizations reach their end. Organizational longevity is decreasing. Research from the Harvard Business Review in 2016 highlighted a stark reality: 80% of organizations existing before 1980 are gone. Even those that thrived in more recent decades face significant challenges, with newer firms often lasting only a fraction of the time their predecessors did.
But why? And more importantly, how can leaders ensure their organizations don’t just survive, but thrive?
The Challenges of Modern Organizations
The forces threatening organizational survival come from both outside and within. External influences like economic shifts, political instability, market competition, pandemics, and wars can destabilize even the most well-established businesses. While these external threats are significant, Performance Dashboard emphasizes an often-overlooked reality: it’s the internal mistakes that most often sink an organization.
Performance Dashboard founder Cappy Leland, PhD, warns, “Leaders ignore their organization’s immune system”. This “immune system” represents the internal mechanisms that can protect an organization from toxicity and dysfunction. It detects the level of social and emotional health of relational behaviors (soft skills), and the effectiveness of operational practices (hard skills). When leaders fail to recognize or address the early signs of internal toxicity—whether it’s strained relationships, declining morale, or inefficiencies—the consequences can be devastating.
The Organizational Effectiveness Survey (OES)℠: A Diagnostic Compass
This is where the OES℠ comes into play. Over two decades of implementing this validated diagnostic assessment, Performance Dashboard has gained unparalleled insights into what makes organizations tick. The OES is designed to measure and analyze three core traits that define organization culture:
- Relational Behaviors: How individuals within the organization interact, communicate, collaborate, and care for each other.
- Operational Practices: The effectiveness and efficiency of the processes and systems that drive day-to-day work to get results -no excuses.
- The Immune System: The organization’s ability to resist and recover from internal dysfunction and external pressures.
By assessing these areas, the OES provides leaders with a roadmap for fostering a healthier, effective, and more resilient organization.
Lessons Learned: Building Strength from Within
From the data collected over decades, Performance Dashboard has uncovered some critical truths:
- Internal Health, Effectiveness, and Resilience Drives External Success The strength of an organization lies in its foundation. Healthy relationships, efficient operations, and a robust immune system are non-negotiable. Leaders must prioritize these elements if they want to create a culture that supports innovation, adaptability, and long-term growth.
- Innovation is Essential—but Not Enough While newer organizations are often more nimble, their “numbered days” highlight a key challenge: agility without internal health leads to instability. To survive, organizations must balance adaptability with strong internal behaviors (soft skills), and practices (hard skills) framework.
- Toxic Signals Can’t Be Ignored Internal toxicity often manifests subtly at first—a breakdown in communication, waning morale, or missed performance targets. Ignoring these early warning signs allows problems to fester, ultimately jeopardizing the organization’s future.
- Leadership is the Linchpin Dr. Leland emphasizes that the responsibility for an organization’s health, effectiveness, and resilience ultimately rests with its leaders. Effective leaders care for their people, communicate a vision of hope, and prioritize professional development. They also stay vigilant, proactively addressing both internal and external threats.
Navigating External Challenges
While internal health is paramount, external challenges can’t be ignored. Leaders must remain attuned to shifts in the market, aggressive competitors, and broader economic and political trends. But the key isn’t just reacting to these challenges; it’s anticipating them. Organizations that thrive are those that build resilience into their culture and operations, allowing them to weather storms and emerge stronger.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
One of the most profound insights from the OES is this: most internal mistakes are avoidable. Dr. Leland notes that many leaders fail to:
- Recognize early signs of dysfunction.
- Balance relational and operational priorities.
- Invest in the professional growth of their team.
These missteps often stem from a lack of attention to the organization’s “immune system.” By focusing on relational health, operational efficiency, and resilience, leaders can prevent many of the toxic effects that threaten their organization’s survival.
The Path Forward: Competency and Caring
“Most toxic effects of internal mistakes can be cured with a large dose of competency and caring,” says Dr. Leland. Competency involves staying current with business strategies and ensuring operational practices are effective. Caring, on the other hand, means prioritizing the well-being and development of the people within the organization.
When leaders combine these qualities, they create an environment where people thrive. This, in turn, drives the organization’s success.
A Vision of Hope and Reward
At the heart of Performance Dashboard’s philosophy is a simple yet powerful idea: organizations succeed when their people succeed. Leaders must communicate a vision of hope and reward, inspiring their teams to achieve their best. By fostering a culture of trust, respect, and growth, they lay the groundwork for lasting success.
Conclusion: The Legacy of the OES
After decades of implementing the OES, Performance Dashboard has seen firsthand the transformative power of internal health. Organizations that prioritize relational behaviors (soft skills), operational practices (hard skills), and a strong immune system are more resilient and more likely to achieve lasting success.
But the work doesn’t end there. Leaders must remain vigilant, continuously adapting to new challenges while nurturing the core strengths that drive their organization forward. As Dr. Leland reminds us, “Strength within drives success without.”
So, what’s the biggest risk to your organization? It’s not the market, the economy, or even your competitors. It’s ignoring the signals within. Are you ready to listen?
Learn more at Performance Dashboard.com