The most impact-ful, yet most difficult, change for an organization to make when transitioning from Whitewater to Predictable Success® is to develop the core ‘engine-house’ of Predictable Success® and second-stage growth: Cross-functional teams.
During the early growth stages, organizations are typically built around a small number of high-performing individuals. Then, during Whitewater, as the organization becomes ‘process-ized’, employees begin to work in functional silos, independent from (and often warring with) other functions.
Sometimes it’s the sales function versus the operations functions, sometimes it’s R&D versus manufacturing, at other times it’s marketing versus engineering: whatever the battles, Whitewater is a prime breeding ground for inter-functional conflict, with resulting loss of efficiencies, strife and a drop in morale.
To achieve Predictable Success®, the organization must become adept in using cross-functional teams to effectively and successfully manage its day-to-day activities across functions. If not managed well, this can become a painful and lengthy process.
Lack of success in building cross-functional teams, resulting in the organization remaining ‘silo-ized’, is the #1 reason for organizations drifting out of Predictable Success® and being pulled back into Whitewater.
