Seven uncommon characteristics that drive organisational success

2 Oct

Why is it that some organisations are more successful than others? Why is it that when organisations become successful, some are able to achieve success over a sustained period, whilst others are not? Why is it that some organisations are able to set the benchmark for others? Not only that, but why is it that even when some organisations reach the levels of the most successful, their competitors are simply able to reinvent themselves, find a new gear and pull further ahead?

Let's set the scene here; success is not a measure of what happens at the end, it is a measure of what you do at the beginning. Long before successful organisations are judged by others for the impact of their outputs, they have already judged themselves by testing the efficacy of their inputs.

With organisational success, there are many 'common characteristics' eg: predictive capabilities, decisive leadership, competent management and a capacity for innovation. Few would disagree that those organisation's best able to demonstrate mastery across these functions, are more likely to achieve success than those who do not. However, these functions are to a large extent, the common characteristics of successful organisations. But what about those characteristics that are uncommon? In other words, the habits, behaviours and ways of working that are not obvious, but which are game changers; separating out those organisations that achieve some success from those that become sustainably successful?

Well, set out below are seven uncommon characteristics that drive organisational success.

1. The curiosity of experimentation

Behind the drive towards continuous improvement and the determination to be better, is the commitment to experiment. When organisations experiment, they do so as a natural expression of their curiosity, not as a random act. In doing so, they also recognise that they are only as good as their next achievement, not their last success. The key point about experimentation is that it empowers organisations to understand the 'science of their success'. In other words, to learn lessons that will enable them to build upon proven practice and better organise their effort in pursuit of plausible outcomes. Through experimentation, organisations are better placed to rewrite rules, stretch capabilities, reduce timescales and exceed expectations. Organisations with the mindset of experimentation recognise that there is no point testing boundaries if you are not willing to redefine them.

2. The necessity for rationalisation

So often, the defining measure of a successful business is how quickly it grows in both relative and absolute terms. To that extent, growth is a fascinating and complex success metric because it is definitive, right? Ask anyone how they define 'growth' and they will almost certainly describe it in terms of increased scope, scale and span. By contrast, rationalisation is often seen as evidence of recession and failure, rather than growth and success. However, in truth, rationalisation is one of the most important characteristics of business success. This is because successful organisations use rationalisation tactically to create economies of scale, reduce costs and increase efficiency. As such, rationalisation is an essential measure of success not because it helps a business to grow exponentially, but rather because it helps it to grow sustainably.

3. The foresight of speculation

The spectrum of speculation exists from uncertainty at one end, all the way to possibility at the other. But how can uncertainty or possibility for that matter, be a key characteristic of organisational success? Well look at it this way, at its heart, speculation is nothing more than the art of informed guess-work and the science of disciplined risk-taking. Every business or enterprise without exception, operates somewhere on this spectrum. Some businesses dabble more at the 'uncertainty' end, where the risks and rewards are much higher, but where the likelihood of success is much less. Others, meanwhile, operate more at the 'possibility' end of the spectrum, where the risk and rewards may not be as high, but where success may be more likely. In simple terms, where business is concerned, speculation always comes before accumulation.

4. The 'brutality' of fragmentation

Sometimes success is to be found in the detail, not the big picture. For this reason, breaking things apart doesn't just enable an organisation to see how they work, it also positions them most effectively to fix what is not working. Though absolutely necessary, fragmentation is seldom 'pretty'. There are times when the only way to beat a path to progress is to blast away at the hardened surfaces of customs, practice and ways of working that obstruct an organisation's future growth and development. The very best and most successful organisations understand the art and science of fragmentation. They deploy it as a building block for the development of their brands and as well as a mechanism for gaining insight and learning.

5. The strategy of segmentation

The value and importance of segmentation is that it is a conscious and deliberate attempt to divide the focus or activity of a business, into smaller elements or subsets. The essence of segmentation is simply this: where strategy can be personalised and effort can be customised, then impact can be maximised. The carefully tailored approach, which characterises segmentation is also important because it reflects an organisation's wider awareness and sensitivity. When organisations understand and reflect the sensitivity of their operational environment, they are better placed to build confidence, win trust and cultivate the loyalty of their customers.

6. The risk of estimation

The path to success is not always neatly mapped out. On many occasions, big business decisions are made on the back of educated guess-work and in more extreme cases, slivers of information. Successful organisations use the process of 'estimation' to draw reasonable and plausible inferences from the facts before them, in order to inform the decisions that they make. Critically, this means that one of the characteristics that drive organisations to succeed is that they cannot be afraid of getting things wrong. The practice and process of estimation does not guarantee a right answer, rather it is an exercise in best judgement. The more often judgement is tested, the better it becomes.

7. The insight of illumination

One of the many uncommon characteristics that drive successful organisations is their ability to unclutter their decision-making space and illuminate complex thought with insight. Put more bluntly, these organisations recognise that for knowledge to become realisation, it must be illuminated by understanding. With illumination and insight, organisations are better able to understand and when they add depth to their understanding, they are better able to balance risk and prioritise effort. This is particularly pertinent because, it is only when something is 'understood' that the formula for success can be repeated.

In conclusion, the corollary of the above is that the most successful organisations do not achieve success because they do the same things as everyone else or share characteristics and behaviours in common with others. On the contrary, they are successful because they do different things to everyone else and share characteristics and behaviours that are uncommon to others. Much as that may seem like a contradiction in terms, it is actually a profoundly important insight. In the wider world, imitation and mimicry may very well be the sincerest form of flattery, but in the context of business strategy, sustainable success is often measured by the point of distinction and differentiation.

Paul Aladenika