Life would be great if the organization could continue indefinitely at the 'Fun' stage. However, sooner or later the very success that the organization has achieved pushes it into the next stage: Whitewater.

The fast growth typically achieved during 'Fun', comes at a cost. Over time the relentless focus on sales gives way to a realization that the business cannot survive simply by focusing on the top line - it must also make profits. This increased focus on profitability comes at a time when, because of growth, the business has also become more complex. To cope with both issues (complexity and profitability), management begins to introduce policies, processes and systems - maybe for the very first time. (This is often accompanied by the appointment of an accountant or other administrator to the management team.) The process of 'systematizing' the business in turn causes the Whitewater effects discussed earlier: confusion, loss of focus, and an organizational identity crises. Morale declines, and management becomes polarized. Many organizations stall out at the Whitewater stage, and either retract in size, returning to the simpler, low-systems 'mom and pop' approach that worked in the Fun stage, or occasionally the organization breaks apart, with the original founders splitting because of disagreement on how to manage the business.

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·  Death Rattle ·  Bureaucracy ·  Treadmill ·  Predictable Success® ·  Fun ·  Early Struggle