A Founder’s Transition: From Flexibility to Control
For founders, the journey from startup agility to growth predictability marks a pivotal transition, one that demands a keen awareness of the organisation’s evolving needs and the founder’s role within it. Recognising these moments of transition is crucial, followed closely by finding the optimum balance between a flexibility, which for many is instinctual and familar, and a control, which may often feel counter intuitive. What the consulting firm, Adizes, once describe as a state of ‘Prime”.
At the heart of this transition lies the organisation’s culture, often a reflection of the founder or founder’s psychology. As Jacques aptly noted, “individuals unconsciously and collusively concoct organisations as a means of defence against psychotic anxiety” which may inadvertently become a source of the challenges they face. These underlying drivers, like our own psychology and behavioural patterns, often more visible to others than they are to ourselves and hence much harder for us to spot.
Sensing a change or at least recognising a slowingly of momentum or the mounting of significant external and internal challenges. Founders, like all of us, will revert to their own tried tested. Leaning harder of their conviction in the strategy, altering structure and product, or perhaps seeking fresh investment. These do little to address the inconvenient truth which is that it may not only be the business that needs to change but the founder themselves.
These moments of transition are initial subtle but they are not invisible and in my experience appear first in the feelings that the founder or founders experience in relation their business. They are also often felt in the broader system, where sentiment and conversation will shift from one of ease, excitement and possibility to those of challenge, frustration and difficulty. What once felt easy begins to feel hard. Awareness of the feeling tone of this internal and external landscape is critical to any leader wishing to identify these moments of change and avoid the envitable crisis which may result should these early warnings go unheeded.
This starts be viewing such feelings as data which may reveal something useful about context, rather than as things to be managed. Data which provoke leaders to ask: What’s really going on here? What do the data signals suggest? And perhaps most importantly, what role must I play in this evolving landscape?
Embracing these inquiries requires humility and a willingness to adapt. It entails recognizing that the path forward may necessitate a departure from familiar territory, challenging established norms, and assuming new responsibilities. For those who have founded their business on a desire for change this fear of change can often seem confusing but it is perhaps far easy to change out there than it is to change oneself.
In essence, the founder’s transition from startup agility to growth predictability demands a delicate balancing act — one that acknowledges the organisation’s roots while embracing the imperative for change. By remaining attuned to the emotional currents, challenging ingrained assumptions, and assuming a proactive stance, founders can navigate this transition with clarity, purpose, and resilience, laying the foundation for sustained success in their ever-evolving landscape.
